It’s been a turbulent few seasons at Loftus Road, initiated by the champagne-drinking micro manager extraordinaire Flavio Briatore, who instigated a cultural shift within the club which has continued to this day.

While this time of re-branding and “project” building resulted in many changes on and off the pitch, an issue that haunts many businesses up and down the country bitterly troubled us – talent acquisition and retention.

In any sector you look for people who fit your culture. Failure to clearly define what that is, or simply throwing money at the issue, paves a rocky road to success, especially in the long term. QPR are guilty of both.

I don’t need to remind anyone about the mistakes – impossibly expensive investments made without knowledge of or interest in our history. I for one welcomed the impact Harry Redknapp had in moving some of these mercenaries on and replacing them with experienced players and others with re-sale value such as Charlie Austin, Leroy Fer and Matty Phillips.

It’s what was required at the time. But it wasn’t perfect. Nor did it have the club’s long-term interests at heart. We were forever catching up with ourselves, having to shift players and welcome others in high volume – many of them on loan.

I still believe there is work to be done in establishing a culture and truly defining what it means to play for such a wonderful club, but in Les Ferdinand we have someone who truly ‘gets it’. This has been evident in some of this summer’s signings.

In stark comparison to our side last season, which featured the likes of Richard Dunne, Rio Ferdinand and Clint Hill at the back, we are now bringing in young players on the up with something to prove either after being rejected by previous clubs (Tyler Blackwood and Ben Gladwin), or smart players planning their career trajectory with common sense, and not an agent (Massimo Luongo).

We are now signing players that have re-sale value and fit into a sensible wage structure. They are desperate to succeed and play at a higher level, unlike Park Ji-Sung and Jose Bosingwa, the Champions League winners who came to QPR for their last pay day.

Times have changed. Long- standing contracts have expired and we’ve finally bid farewell to the likes of Shaun Wright-Phillips and Joey Barton.

These new players need to be given time but I believe they represent positive signs for a club that truly needs them.

Follow me at @adamrubins and @QPRForum