Roy Hodgson will already have spent hours on the training ground this week as he bids to turn around Crystal Palace’s fortunes.
Hodgson, who took over from the sacked Frank de Boer on Tuesday, will immediately focus on making Palace much harder to beat.
The 70-year-old likes to take training sessions himself and, with assistant Ray Lewington, will have worked on the defensive shape of the side since he got to work on Wednesday.
A stickler for detail, Hodgson drills players, individually and collectively, with or without the ball.
There will be a lot of repetitive work on the pattern of play and team organisation. Players at his former clubs have said it can be mundane at first but the methods soon get results and teams see the rewards of the hours they are putting in during the week.
His methods have worked at struggling clubs like Fulham and West Brom and most of his former players talk highly of him and his approach.
He is honest and, despite his age, is able to connect with younger players.
Hodgson knows he needs to get off to a good start against Southampton at Selhurst Park tomorrow.
Every Crystal Palace manager since their 2012 promotion
Palace are bottom with no points and no goals from their opening four games, and their next three fixtures are against Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea.
Hodgson said: “I think we have a lot of work to do to feel fully confident that every player fully understands with his role what I am looking for and what I would like him to do.
“The important thing now is to get down to work and make certain we become a really highly competitive team which is hard to beat and is capable of picking up points.”
