Not enough

He says the necessary financial clout to build a squad capable of a swift return to Division One has not been at his disposal.

However, Todd told Sky Sports pundit Jimmy Hill during last night's Last Word show, that his view was not shared by chairman Terry Brady, who wants to see his new club promoted this season.

Instead, Todd calls for patience as he attempts to build a solid foundation for a challenge next year.

"There are never any easy jobs in football. No matter what club you are at, you are always striving to be at the top," he said.

"This is an enormous job for myself and new chairman Terry Brady who has come in with his consortium. We are ambitious. The Swindon public want a good footballing side and it is up to me to try to give them a team that can play football and win games."

Todd spoke on the England national job, his days as a player under Brian Clough and how he won the 1975 Footballer of the Year award.

But it was his views on Swindon Town that dominated the hour-long interview.

"We are ambitious like a lot of other football clubs but it is putting those words into action to get us where we want to go," he said. "The chairman is very ambitious. You know what chairman are like. If things do not go well for them then they lose their patience, the supporters lose their patience and you know what happens after that.

"The expectations from a lot of people are that we can get straight out of Division Two but that will not be the case. If it is, then it will be a great bonus.

"I think we will consolidate to be in a position where, come next season, we can go on to better things. But we must be realistic.

"I have a chairman who thinks we can get out straight away and I disagree with him on that. He knows that. We both have our own ideas on football. We want to play in the same way.

"But this team, at this moment in time? I am telling you it will not be good enough. I am not being disrespectful to the players, but we will give it our best shot and take it from there.

"There is no reason why we can't be up the table, over half-way, making life difficult for other teams. We are capable of beating a lot of sides but whether we can beat the top teams remains to be seen."

Todd has had his work cut out since taking over the reins at Swindon at the tail-end of last season. He has brought in nine new players and things have taken time to settle.

He was quick to admit to Mr Hill that there was a long way to go before his squad was where he wanted it and that the club could recover from years of financial hardship.

"We have just come out of administration and there is not a lot of money there to bring in the calibre of players that I would like to bring in. I have got to work to a budget," he said.

"It is a period when people do have to be patient. There was some money to play with but it was not to play with on transfer fees, it was for the wages.

"I am still out there looking for players to make it better. But with the ones I have got it has been a slow start. I think we are going in the right direction now. I have seen more light at the end of the tunnel now than when I first started.

"The players I brought in have come through reserve team football and some of them have played at only that level.

"With them gaining first team experience at Swindon it stands them in good stead for the future. If, along the road, the chairman can come up with some money and it can be invested in the right kind of player, then once again that will hold us in good stead for the future.

"The supporters realise it's going to be a transitional period where they have to be patient and go along with me and put their hands, as it were, in my trust."