php - Laravel select form default value -

i'm having problem on setting default value of "please select" on select form laravel. here comes code.

$user = \app\user::where('role_id','=','3')->orderby('name', 'asc')->lists('name','staff_id');

and here's on blade

{!! form::select('requestby', $user, input::old('requestby'), array('class' => 'form-control')) !!}

i have tried put array_merge seems overwriting <option> value staff_id index value. should now?

array_merge re-index array when merging. can use + -

$user = array('' => 'please select') + $user;

the indexs not changed.

Alconcel