Hodgson’s been written off before but he’ll turn it round

Roy HoDGSoN is a perfect fit for Crystal Palace. I can see similarities in what Roy did at Fulham to how he will go about getting Palace out of trouble.

He asked for my distribution as goalkeeper to be varied. At Palace there will be times when it is difficult to play out from the back. If it is on, he wants you to play. If not, he doesn’t mind you knocking it long.

We had Bobby Zamora up front with Andy Johnson running in behind. Bobby would hold up the ball or flick on and Andy and others would offer options in support. In that sense, with Christian Benteke and quick wingers, Palace have a squad that is going to suit the way Roy wants to play.

Roy took 95 per cent of the training sessions and I can’t imagine that will change, even now he’s 70. Even if Roy did let his assistant Ray Lewington take a session, he was always nearby and often couldn’t help but join in. He is so dedicated and simply loves his football.

organising communication between me and the defence was important to Roy. We went through a lot of drills and, at first, players found it difficult to adjust because it was quite regimental, but it soon became very clear what he was trying to do.

We had a system everyone fell into. It was so drilled into us that we won games because we were so well organised. Roy wanted us to know inherently our exact movements in certain situations.

I also see similarities in the way his appointment is being greeted by criticism — back then he was written off, too. But we had great success at Fulham. His time at Liverpool didn’t work out but he was excellent again at West Brom.

The expectations at Palace are similar to those clubs and I believe Roy will slot in quickly. I don’t say they’ll get instant results but it will happen sooner rather than later.