It is fair to say that Crystal Palace have endured a dismal start to the season.After guiding the club to safety last season, Sam Allardyce stepped down from his role as manager during the early stages of this summer.He was replaced by former Ajax boss Frank De Boer, who intended to add more excitement to Selhurst Park by implementing a passing style of football.However, his players failed to adapt to this new philosophy, and the Dutchman seemed powerless as his side slumped to four consecutive losses in the Premier League without scoring a single goal.As a result, De Boer lost his job, giving him the unwanted record of the shortest reign of a manager in terms of matches played in the Premier League era.Roy Hodgson was subsequently given the job to transform the team's fortunes, but he also got off to the worst possible start as his side succumbed to another 1-0 loss at the hands of Southampton.That loss means that Palace sit rock bottom of the Premier League, with 0 points and 0 goals scored.In fact, their start to the season has been so bad, that no other side in the history of first tier English football has ever experienced anything like it.

Following the defeat, Hodgson has urged his side to forget about their poor start and perform better in the upcoming months.

Speaking to Sky Sports, the 70-year-old said "The desire was there but unfortunately it was a frantic desire. It was a desire where you're chasing and hoping, not a desire where you're in control and moving the ball around well and causing the opponents lots of problems.

"I'm learning all the time, in training and also in games. I learn what I know really, in that there is a lot of heart out there, a lot of pain when it's not going well and people care. They want to do better but we have got to mould ourselves into a better football team.

"We have to make certain that we are able to take on teams like Southampton and certainly be even at the end of the game in terms of the quality of play, which we were unable to do today.

"We've already had four defeats, now it's five. But nothing I can say will change those five results, nothing I can say will score a goal in those five games or give us any points from those five games. It's a question what you do going forward."

Unfortunately for Hodgson and his men, their upcoming fixtures will provide a stern test as they look to kick-start their season.

Crystal Palace's next three games in the league are away at both Manchester clubs, followed by Chelsea at home. Ouch.

It certainly does not get any easier for Hodgson's side, and given their next run of fixtures there is every chance that the unwelcome record that they broke today will continue.