First season in the prem!

just been promoted with qpr, just some advice on how to play, formation, starting philosophy and what sort of players to bring in, experience maybe?

For the first year up I would actually advise you make as few signings as possible . I've found that after gaining promotion squad cohesion and morale are far more important to survival than your squad's overall quality.

At present your player's confidence will be sky high and bringing in too many replacements will disrupt that. Bear in mind that as a lesser side you are likely to take a few hidings over the course so keeping your players happy is paramount.

I would limit signings to a few key areas. Maybe splash out on a (proven) goalscorer, a quality defender and a quality goalkeeper. It might also be good to have a determined, influential leader rolemodel (though usually championship sides already have a few!)

With all the extra cash it's tempting to throw cash at players but trust me it's better to be cautious and keep the wage budget within control. Having healthy finances will give you extra currency with the board should things turn south. Additionally, if things start badly you'll have a war chest for January and a much better idea of where your team is falling short of the Premier League standard and needs shoring up.

Just my two cents

TV

Cheers mate

It depends on how you want to play but as i'm promoted normally i spend the entire first season playing on "counter" since pretty much all the teams will go very attacking against you, so i normally just try to sit back and keep shape and have some massive pace upfront and on wings to hit them on the break.

And since i'm normally defending that deep i can afford to sign a few older experienced players that have the quality but no longer have the "legs"..

Yeah, my first season back up with Middlesbrough I went for a more defensive formation, packed the midfield, and looked to catch teams on the break. My signings were Hargreaves on a free to marshal the midfield, and a creative Brazillian to produce something out of nothing (Ederson, if anyone is interested).

I had the advantage that my defence was pretty strong anyway though, QPR aren't quite so gifted there. Also, this kind of formation probably won't suit players like Buzsaky and Taarabt.

Either way, your biggest aim should be to stop the opponents creating as many chances as Championship sides had against you, so you need to close them out. It's not the prettiest football, but you need to limp over the finish line for that first season or two, and then look to build it up.

I agree with tom_15390 AND ToffeeViola. They both have good, valid points. When I got promotion with Middlesbrough, I had been using a fairly attacking 4-4-2 formation, this quickly got found out at this level, so I went for a more robust 4-4-2, utilising defensive wingers and wide midfielders to provide cover for full-bcks and a ball winning midfielder to sit alongside a deep lying playmaker. I tried, as I had some good passers, to retain possesion and frustrate my opponents. Which was successful as I survived lower mid table and got to the FA Cup final.

Experience is vital, I signed Woodgate on a free to help my defence and that was shrewd, the following year I signed Ledley King and the year after, my current season, I picked up Wayne Bridge. I will continue to pick up older, more experienced players until I feel settled in the Premier League, which could be another 2 seasons or so.

DO NOT throw cash at the squad in August, like ToffeeViola suggested, as you will have no idea where your side is lacking...January is key to survival, so buy wisely, if you need to.

First look at the teams who got relegated and take there best talent, then focus on a strong defence and work your way up. I did this with QPR and won the league within 4 seasons.

I've been in this situation this season, but unlike others I've been mainly trying to play Blackpool-esque attacking football where possible. Of course I've had my defenders kick the other team up in the air as well (quite effective but not good for the yellow card count). A largeish squad has helped as I've been able to rotate fresh and fit players in when my opponents have been knackered from midweek cup and Euro matches, has got me a few notable wins and draws. I'm probably going to finish 15th and I've been making a decent monthly profit due to being 100k under wage budget. My side is very young and I actually didn't feel the need to bring in experienced players, as I feel most of mine are mentally quite mature.

My only problem has been scoring goals (despite my attacking strategy). Defensively, I've been very good and am about 8th best in terms of goals conceded.

One thing I've found useful is to target a run of games where it looks like you might be able to get some points on the board and really focus on those at the expense of games against bigger teams, I went on a nice run where I beat West Ham, Sunderland, Wolves, Stoke all in a row and then a little mini-run later in the season as well.