Yes it just seems a perfect storm really. From Hodgson not really knowing how to utilise centre forwards (and hasn't he sold Sorloth?) to seemingly the American backers becoming quite twitchy and not maybe fronting as much money, to Wan Bissaka going early in the window to the 25% sell on fee.
It sounds difficult to say but hard to see a good outcome for Palace in this now. I think you may get one or 2 in if Zaha goes tomorrow, but probably not as much as you may have got even a week ago. At the same time, if he stays I think it will be difficult to repair the relationship. Zaha seems a temperamental character and I'm not sure Hodgson would be able to easily handle him if he's frustrated.
In truth I don't think Everton have come out of it wonderfully either. We're going to end up paying close to the asking fee, when we've spent much of the last week bidding against ourselves. It's also the sort of signing we've been cautioned against. I think there's more than a little panic our end, at missing out on Malcolm & Neres.
£70+ million seems an enormous price. I've always rated him when I've seen him play, but for that sort of money you want someone to be contributing 20+ goals & assists in the league per season(as a minimum) so lots of pressure on Zaha.
I hope Hodgson can pull Palace together after this. In a strange way he's probably sa good man to have at the helm for you guys now. He's seen it all before and seems good in a bit of a crisis. I doubt he'll be too fazed (as a younger manager might be) and he's probably the stoic sort who can bludgingly work towards 45 points, which I'd suggest might be the height of the ambition at this stage for Palace.
After that there will be some serious questions. I worry a bit for Palace that they may by going down the Stoke/Charlton route, where there was a desire for improvement in league performance and style too quickly and they lost their way a bit. We will see, this one could go either way.