Roy Hodgson has been written off before... but he will turn it around as Crystal Palace's new manager

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

Starting from my perspective as the goalkeeper, he asked for distribution to be varied. At Palace, as at Fulham, there will be times when it is more difficult to play out from the back.

If it is on, he wants you to play. If it is not, he doesn't mind you knocking it long.

Goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer played under Roy Hodgson at Fulham as they finished seventh

Under Hodgson, Schwarzer and his team-mates also reached the Europa League final  

We had Bobby Zamora up front with Andy Johnson running in behind. Bobby would hold the ball up or flick on and Andy and others would give 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 on the pitch and I can't imagine that will have changed, even at 70. He is not one to just sit on the sidelines and bark out instructions. 

Schwarzer believes the former England boss 'will slot in' as he takes on the Crystal Palace job

Ray Lewington played his part, Mike Kelly too. But even if Roy did let one of his assistants take a session, he was always right near and often couldn't help himself but join in. He is so hands on and dedicated. He simply loves his football.

Of vital importance to him was organising the communication between myself and the defence. We went through a lot of drills at training.

For the first two or three months the players found that quite difficult to adjust to because it was quite regimental. It was very much about knowing positional play.

The Australian keeper played for Hodgson at Fulham and says the 70-year-old 'drilled' the team

But after a short period of time it became very clear what he was trying to do, even if we didn't play particularly well or individuals didn't have a great game, we had a system that everyone fell into. It was so drilled into us that we actually won games because we were so well organised.

Roy wanted us to know inherently our exact movements in certain situations. For example if the right back got the ball, what the right winger or striker would do.

He spent a lot of time explaining how he wanted players to be positioned and what type of balls he wanted.

Schwarzer believes the size and expectation of Crystal Palace is similar to West Brom

One of the key things was that as a midfielder or defender, you always showed opposing players inside. You had your teammate next to you coming over far enough to cover, and everybody tucked in. 

If the ball was switched to the other side there was a quick transition, everyone shuffled across. 

If you were on the right-hand side and the ball got shifted to the left, then it was the left midfielder who was the first person to engage – without diving in. They got into a position to show the opposing player back inside. 

Schwarzer insists Palace under Hodgson will get results they need 'sooner rather than later'

At times you gave opponents nowhere to play and we could steal the ball. Defenders had to make sure they didn't drop off to create too much space for midfielders to run into, or strikers to come short. It was really about finding the balance.

I also see similarities in the way his appointment is being greeted. I have seen criticism already. Back then he was written off too. He was coming from abroad and people had said he was never going to get another chance at the Premier League after Blackburn.

But we had great success at Fulham and though his time at Liverpool didn't quite work out he was excellent again at West Brom. 

Right now the size and expectations of Palace are similar to those clubs and with his methods I believe Roy will slot in really quickly. I am not saying they will get instant results but it will be sooner rather than later. I think he is a perfect fit.