Cardiff City are looking to achieve back-to-back promotions.

Albion may have finished above their Welsh rivals last year but it would take a monumental effort for Micky Adams to achieve the same next season.

That statement offers no disrespect to Albion but Cardiff have the financial clout to surpass most teams in the Second Division next year.

The Bluebirds spent £2,500,000 on players last season and chairman Sam Hammam has already put up another £2,000,000 for new faces this summer.

Compare that to the sort of money Adams, or most of his contemporaries, will have to spend and you can see why Cardiff are more than capable of achieving their goals.

Hammam wants to make Cardiff a force in British football. The former Wimbledon chief put a strong management team in place on his arrival in Wales.

Bobby Gould is general manager and Alan Cork is head coach, having left Albion last October to take up that position.

Cork, of course, has Wimbledon running through him and you can understand his decision to leave the South Coast.

It was a hard choice to leave his best pal Adams, who Cork had been No. 2 to, and he described it at the time as "like leaving my brother to go back to my dad".

Money was soon spent on the likes of Lincoln striker Gavin Gordon for £550,000, West Brom defender Daniel Gabbidon and Arsenal defender Rhys Weston, a Welsh international. And, of course, there was an unsuccessful £1million bid for Albion's Bobby Zamora.

Later in the season David Hughes arrived from Shrewsbury for £460,000 and Lee McCulloch was signed from Dundee United for £100,000.

Already speculation is rife about who will be among the next wave of signings, although rumours linking them with the likes of Nathan Blake, Arsenal's Lee Dixon and fellow former England defender Neil Ruddock have been dismissed as nonsense.

Cardiff have publicly stated that they are looking to make six or seven summer signings.

Two have arrived already. Michael Simpkins is a 22-year-old left wing-back who has joined on a free transfer from Chesterfield while goalkeeper Neil Alexander has joined from Scottish First Division champions Livingston for a "nominal fee" which could be as much as £200,000.

A central defender, a central midfielder and a striker will be among the other arrivals.

Others who have had talks with the club include Manch-ester City defender Andy Morrison, who has also been linked with Bristol City, and Luton skipper Paul McLaren, who has is also attracting promoted Walsall.

One other is Ryan Green, the young Welsh full-back who has failed to make an impression at Wolves and spent the tail end of last season on loan to Torquay.

Brentford skipper Paul Evans has also been mentioned.

On the departure front, one-time Tottenham midfielder Danny Hill has been released along with young goalkeepers Paul Buttery and Matthew Gray.

As many as ten other players could also be shown the door. All remain in contract but are not seen as part of the long term plans for the club.

At the forefront of these is former Albion striker Kurt Nogan, who is way down on the list of strikers at the club.

Former Seagulls goalkeeper Mark Walton will also be questioning his future following the arrival of Alexander.

One thing certain is that Cardiff is a club going places. An integral part of this is striker Robert Earnshaw, the club's exciting Zambian-born teenager.

Earnshaw finished second to Zamora in the Third Division scoring charts last season and is one of a number of highly-rated youngsters assembled by Cork and Gould.

Others to look out for are Weston, Welsh under-21 international Kevin Evans and promising defender Gethin Jones.