Another season, another nine months of torture. Or perhaps not this time.

QPR are probably the only club in English football that can make a glorious season of promotion to the Premier League look like a disaster - as it almost became back in 2011 when the FA probably should have docked us three plus points for transfer irregularities.

Limping in to our first season in the top flight for 15 years QPR were far from blessed: with owners who wanted out, but wouldn't leave until they had extracted their pound of flesh; a star player - Adel Taraabt - caught between Paris and London wondering who he would be playing for; a manager, Neil Warnock, with a ragtag squad and a non-existent transfer kitty.

To cut a long story short, when Tony Fernandes arrived late August, it was almost too late. And in January when the new board moved to put Warnock out of his misery and install Mark Hughes, it was almost too late as well. Both transfer windows resembled the opening day of the Harrods sale - a lot of rushing around only to be left with the feeling that what you ended up buying was not what you wanted anyway.

Of last season's arrivals DJ Campbell, Jay Bothroyd, Luke Young, Kieron Dyer are unlikely to start for the first team again, while Armand Traore and Shaun Wright-Phillips will be doing plenty of benchwork. And who knows what will happen to Joey Barton.

In all the doom and gloom that pervades in a brutal fight for last-day survival there were bright points. Despite the John Terry incident Anton Ferdinand looks like a leader at the back, while Nedum Onouha, the incredibly exciting Samba Diakite, Djibril Cisse and Bobby Zamora all look like prospects. Oh and Taraabt genuinely looks to have grown up after an incredibly impressive run-in. The new model even tackles back. And so to Premier League - the second season.

The arrival of Park Ji-Sung prior to a tour of Asia was a surprise, but a pleasant one. The 31-year-old may have failed to outlive Paul Scholes in the Man Utd midfield, but he may have so much more to offer at a club prepared to play him in the middle - rather than shunting him out to the wing. We may even a return to the sparkling attacking midfield play that saw the South Korean come to prominence at PSV Eindhoven.

And his arrival is not the only smart move by Hughes. The confirmation of the permanent signing of Diakite could possibly usurp Park as the signing of the summer (assuming Andy Carroll isn't in the wings), if last season's vast improvement in the Malian is anything to go by. The arrival of Fabio proved interesting in that full-backs with pace really suit Hughes's style of play - and he become the first Brazilian at the club since Dunga sued for a loan he gave us back in the dark, dark days.

Junior Hoilett is a coup too. Spurs were due to take up an option on the talented Canadian, but he chose QPR instead.

Andrew Johnson and Ryan Nelsen both look like squad strengtheners, which will improve what was a woeful-looking bench last season. However, Robert Green makes me no less nervous than I was when Paddy Kenny was between the sticks.

But with all the talk of big money signings (no more than £8m spent so far) perhaps the biggest news of the summer has slipped under the radar. Alejandro Faurlin is the biggest news of the summer for QPR fans. The Argentinian at the centre of 2011 transfer debacle, who has been out since January, spent 20 minutes on the pitch last week in a friendly against Augsburg, with no adverse reaction and is expecting to be match fit by week three of the season.

Faurlin was a big loss last season. The playmaker, who rebuffed Jose Mourinho at Internazionale to come to QPR in 2009, has been a big fish in a small pond for most of his QPR career. He looked more than at home in the Premier League though, right up to the point he tore a cruciate ligament and it is no coincidence that the Rs went on a seven-game losing streak not long after. His return is better than a new signings, his ball retention and distribution will be a breath of fresh air.

Perhaps the biggest weakness going into 2012/13 is the leakiest defence not to be relegated from the Premier League this season, which has not been significantly strengthened. Much will depend on whether Ferdinand has reclaimed his composure and whether Onouha - who played full back much of last season - has bedded into his new (and more suited role) role in the centre. January may see the arrival of a more accomplished performer if he hasn't.

There are plenty of reasons to be cheerful at Loftus Road and the finishing positions being predicted by the national newspapers - the majority of which said the club would go down last season - sit comfortably between 11th and 15th.

Here's to mid-table obscurity and virtually no excitement. It's been a while.

Player to watch: Alejandro Faurlin

Young player to watch: Max Ehmer

Surprise player of the season: Hogan Ephraim

Players in: David Hoilett (Blackburn Rovers) Undisclosed; Park Ji-Sung (Manchester United) Undisclosed; Andrew Johnson (Fulham) Free; Ryan Nelsen (Tottenham Hotspur) Free; Robert Green (West Ham United) Free; Samba Diakité (AS Nancy Lorraine) Undisclosed; Fabio (Manchester United) Loan;

Players out: Heidar Helguson (Cardiff City) Undisclosed; Rowan Vine (St Johnstone) Free; Fitz Hall (Watford) Free; Paddy Kenny (Leeds United) (Undisclosed)

Predicted finish: 13th

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