Pardew applauds the Saints fans before the 4-1 friendly defeat by Ajax

New boss Alan Pardew says Southampton are the only club he would have dropped down to League One to manage.

Pardew took over at St Mary's on Friday and was introduced to the fans at Saturday's 4-1 friendly defeat by Ajax.

Asked about dropping outside of the top two divisions, he told BBC Radio Solent: "I can't think of another scenario where I would have done that.

"It was purely the infrastructure, the fan base and the owners had a big part to play in terms of their ambition."

Pardew, who has previously managed in the Championship and Premier League with Reading, West Ham and Charlton, added: "They have sold me on the idea and it is down to me now to get the team correct. That will take a while but that is what I like to think I do well."

Swiss Markus Liebherr completed his takeover of the club earlier this month following the collapse of the proposed deal with Matt Le Tissier's Pinacle group.

The infrastructure of the club, in terms of the training ground and the stadium, is Premiership, and the fans are Premiership quality Alan Pardew

And with stability now having returned to St Mary's off the field, Pardew is determined to ensure success comes on it - despite starting the new League One campaign with -10 points as a penalty for the club's parent company going into administration in April.

"The people who have taken over impress me greatly in their approach and what they have to say," said Pardew.

"The infrastructure of the club, in terms of the training ground and the stadium, is Premiership, and the fans are Premiership quality.

"There is a fundamental problem, and that's the team. The results of last year have affected confidence levels but the team is what I can correct.

"The infrastructure and everything about the club is there, so we need to get the team right.

"We are starting with -10 points, which is a major handicap, but we will do out utmost to overcome that as quickly as we can.

"If we can put that goal to bed quickly we will see what we can do in the league."

Pardew will take training for the first time on Monday after watching Saturday's defeat by Ajax, and said the reception he received had made him even more determined to do well.

"I wasn't expecting a reception as good as that," he added. "I could tell in the fans' eyes that they are desperate for a winning team and we're far from that.

"We need to win quickly and get that habit into the team.

"I can see there are some very good players but maybe we need to bring in one or two to gel it together."

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