Les Reed has spoken to the BBC of how the club are targeting playing in the Champions league within the next five years.
Reed who was acting as a mentor at Kick it Out's Raise Your Game conference, told BBC Sport:
"We'd like to think we have the structure to reach the Champions League in the next five years.
"But it's important to be established as a top-six club over that period."
"We seem to set some kind of record every year now. It's been a fantastic season.
"For us, we have proven we were not a flash in the pan in terms of the Premier League, we were eighth last year and we still think we can get a top-six finish.
"We also have some silverware with the under-21s winning the Premier League Cup, so we are still on an upward curve and we have plans to compete at this level for many years to come.
"I would be disappointed if we didn't make Europe this season, but we have set our own standards now and we are confident over the course of the coming years we will play in Europe and we are confident we are right to have an aspiration to play in the Champions League."
Good words from Reed backed up by a structure that is now being implemented efficiently rather than the scattergun approach employed by many Premier League football clubs.
It is good to see that Saints have set themselves goals and targets again that are both stretching and achievable, although Saints had a good shot at Champions league qualification this season, the reality is we are still way behind the current top four in many aspects and Les Reed is right when he says the first step is to establish ourselves as a top six side, previously it has been about jumping from mid table to top 4 with little in between, but this statement recognises the fact that solid foundations have to be built and success cannot come over night.
So a good positive statement from Reed that not only says the type of things that supporters want to hear and encourages them, but is backed up with just why we can achieve this.