IN the second chapter of his exclusive frank and full interview with the official Argyle website, Pilgrims' chairman Paul Stapleton looks to the future.

Paul outlines the Argyle board of directors' plans for the Pilgrims' long-term expansion of the club in the transfer-market, through its scouting system, by bringing on home-grown talent, and creating a new way forward.

Paul said: "It is vital at this stage of our history that we develop in certain key areas that will provide the bedrock of a dynamic and sure long-term future for Argyle.

"To begin the pursuit of this aim, we are putting into place the building-blocks of a scouting system that is far more extensive than this club has ever had.

"We have suffered from a quick turnover of chief scouts in the recent past, all taking their dossiers with them. Andy King is our third in less than two years, but we are delighted to have someone of his unrivalled knowledge and widespread contacts - all over the world.

"Andy will oversee the already huge amount of work that goes into our rapidly evolving scouting process, bringing in players that will develop as individuals and take the club forward.

"Allied to this, in Paul Sturrock, we have a manager whose eye for talent and track-record in the transfer-market has always been excellent, not just with us: Peter Crouch's career was resurrected after Paul took him to Southampton; Michael Evans was a Bristol Rovers reserve before leading us to the Championship; Madjid Bougherra was signed for £300,000 at Sheffield Wednesday and sold for £2.5m; and there are many other examples.

"With Paul, we worked very hard through the whole of the January transfer-window to try to bring players to Home Park of the quality to take us forward.

"We met with resistance from clubs who weren't prepared to release players we had carefully targeted, or encountered players whose wage-demands were astronomical.

"We also experienced our unfair share of bad luck that was impossible to legislate for: one player was literally in his car on his way to Plymouth when he learned of a bereavement; another was at the airport, ready to fly in, when he decided, at the last minute, to stay put until the summer.

"However, we weren't, and have never been, prepared to put the long-term future of this club in jeopardy by short-term panic buys or by paying wages that are not sustainable.

"We appreciate that building squads is a cyclical process, and even the top teams like Manchester United and Arsenal have their fallow years, and Paul will be given time to see the process through.

"Another area which we have invested in heavily and see as hugely important to the long-term growth and sustainability of the club is youth development.

"We have seen the first seeds of this show signs of bearing fruit in our youngsters' excellent FA Youth Cup run this season and we believe that developing our own talent is crucial to the club's continued well-being.

"As fans, we are excited to see young skill come through and give solid service to Argyle, as the likes of Paul Wotton and Luke McCormick, to name just two, have done.

"It is equally pleasing to see Westcountry talent that we have nurtured progressing in the game, as Dan Gosling has recently.

"There is no hiding the fact that we feel the benefit from the fees we get from transfers like Dan's.

"We need to generate funds to support our wage-bill. There is no getting away from the fact that our gate-receipts, our principal source of regular income, are not what we had hoped for.

"With this in mind, we are constantly looking at ways of generating other sources of income.

"We intend to give a detailed update on the proposed South Stand development at our annual meeting next month.

"We see such a development as the way forward, but, in the same way we are not going to recklessly gamble with the club's future by paying inflated transfer fees and massive wages, we will not saddle the club with a huge commitment that prevents development on the pitch.

"This club's record, off the pitch, bears up to any examination. There is too much evidence of what happens to clubs who overreach themselves and it is our duty not to let this happen at Argyle.

"We are passionate about the club. That's why we are doing what we can to secure its long-term interests, not carelessly fritter away this position everyone has worked so hard for.

"We realize we can't please all of the people all of the time, but we are doing the best we can. Because we are fans. Because we care. Because we love Argyle.

"There are some things that will divide us, but there is one, much more important, thing that unites us: we are all Argyle fans; we are all signed up for a lifetime tour with the Green Army.

"Let's now march on Leicester, let's get behind Paul and the players, and let's look forward."