Queens Park Rangers received a glowing commendation of their new-look footballing project when they signed sought-after Wycombe striker Richard Kone in the summer, fending off interest from promotion-chasing Leicester City and former boss Marti Cifuentes.
Kone’s arrival was a statement of intent, validation of the principles the club have tried to put in place over the past 18 months.
For the last decade, QPR have been paying off the debt of their ambition after spending millions a Premier League dream that quickly vanished.
QPR's freewheeling soon plunged them into financial disarray, and they plummeted out of the top-flight and into a perennial state of survival, just about keeping their head above water in the Championship.
Something had to change, and in January last year, it finally did.
The club appointed then 26-year-old Christian Nourry as CEO and shifted its focus towards driving down the average age of its squad.
QPR had the sixth-oldest squad on average in the Championship when Nourry took over. They have since signed more than 20 players, on loan and permanently, across the first team and the development squad, with just one player, goalkeeper Paul Nardi, over the age of 25.
Following closure of the transfer window, QPR now have the joint youngest squad in the Championship.
There has been a conscious effort, spearheaded by the club’s first head of methodology Jon de Souza, to change the way QPR play across their men’s, women’s and youth teams to promote long-term stability.
“We're trying to build a football club, but certainly a coaching department that doesn't ever have to start from scratch, regardless of who leaves," de Souza exclusively tells Standard Sport.
“We've done a lot of research and data in terms of success and what success looks like for winning games in the Championship but also selling players in the Championship.”
When former head coach Cifuentes was placed on gardening leave amid speculation that he had entertained talks with West Brom at the end of last season, there was plenty of uncertainty. But the game model reacted, reflexed and served its purpose.
French coach Julien Stephan, a man credited with the development of players such as Eduardo Camavinga, Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue, was brought in, and QPR continued as though nothing had changed.
“I think the beauty about the game model and being so clear is, you know, that enabled us to really find what we thought was the right head coach,” says Souza.
“Because if we were to bring in a head coach that doesn't fit into the principles that we're trying to deliver, straight away, we're not going to be successful.
“But Julian, in the way his teams have played previously, both in terms of shape, formation and style, it's very much aligned to how we want to play.”
QPR have enjoyed flash-in-the-pan moments of optimism in recent years, but with players and managers on a constant churn, it has been hard to build anything tangible.
Their new message is that no one person is bigger than the club, and while players and head coaches come and go, the club will always survive.
“What we're looking for is consistency, and I think the club and Christian have spoken a lot about becoming sustainable,” says Souza.
"In terms of football, there are two ways of doing that. That's getting to the Premier League, and that's a successful player trading model. And to have a successful player trading model, you need to be able to develop your own players.”
QPR's new player trading model has come into great effect this summer, with the club selling academy graduate Charlie Kellman, who scored 27 goals on loan at Leyton Orient last season, to Charlton and replacing him with Kone, one year Kellman's junior, after he scored 21 goals for Orient's promotion rivals Wycombe last season.
Kellman and Kone faced off as QPR beat Charlton 3-1 last weekend, with Kone getting on the scoresheet while Kellman struggled to make an impact off the bench. You can’t get a much clearer vindication of the business QPR have conducted.
Players are buying into QPR's project, and it's allowed the club to snap up a number of League One's most promising young talent.
Winger Kwame Poku, 24, who is currently sidelined with a hamstring injury, had several offers at home and abroad after an excellent season at Peterborough in which he contributed 12 goals and 11 assists in all competitions, but he says he chose QPR after being impressed by the club's plans for the future.
“I met up with Christian (Nourry), I met up with the head coach and I was pretty sold on the project,” Poku exclusively told Standard Sport.
“Playing (in the) Championship I thought was the next step. It became (clear) that the Championship was the right place to end up going instead of abroad. And when I looked across the Championship, I wanted to go somewhere where there was a clear plan and not just be a number.”
Stephan secured his first win as QPR boss at home to Charlton last weekend, and there is an understanding from the club that these things take time.
They can't change overnight from relegation candidates to promotion hopefuls, and while young players may be brimming with potential, they are volatile and unreliable.
Success for QPR is in stability, and after a summer in which some of the brightest young players in the football league placed their faith in the club's project, they are confident they are building towards a better future.
