First was the overall cost of the package. Palace were comfortable with the wage demands put forward for Nuno himself, but he was insistent that he should be accompanied to south London by a significant entourage.

The suggestion was he would bring in two first-team coaches, a goalkeeping coach, at least one fitness coach and others whose roles across sports science and medicine seemed less well defined. All would command significant salaries. All would threaten the roles of the staff currently in place. And all would potentially leave en masse with Nuno if, for whatever reason, things did not work out.

And so began a drip-feed of unanticipated demands, caveats and “cake-and-eat-it clauses” put forward by Mendes, whether financial, contractual, logistical or over recruitment and staffing. The steady flow was now being delivered with the Everton job, which would mean working with a squad clearly better placed to compete for European qualification than Palace are, also up for grabs.

It is unclear just how enthusiastic the Merseyside club have ever been about recruiting Nuno, but talks of some kind are understood to have taken place and there was clearly a level of interest in the Portuguese’s camp over the prospect of working at Goodison Park. That complicated matters with Palace, not least because it further delayed the process.

Why would Nuno commit to Palace if he thought there was even a slim chance Everton might eventually make him an offer?

With that seed sown in the former Wolves head coach’s head, Palace suddenly found themselves in limbo for over a week with their control over the process undermined, fretting that they were merely being used as a means of leveraging a deal from Everton.

All the while, the clock was ticking down on the contracts of 11 first-team players at Selhurst Park — the group had been told collectively that no final decision would be made on renewals until a new manager was in place — and with the formal re-opening of the transfer window edging ever closer.

Nuno became elusive. It was increasingly impossible to secure a firm answer, or commitment, with the landscape forever shifting. Patience began to wear thin.

Even so, just yesterday, there was one final spasm of confidence that a deal could still be struck. Perhaps Nuno’s camp had resigned themselves to the reality that an offer was unlikely to be forthcoming from Everton, but there was a period on Tuesday evening when the noises were more positive again.

Palace, having made clear their previous frustrations, imposed a deadline — they had grown tired of waiting and needed a firm commitment — but believed it would be met. Word crept out that, as far as they were concerned, agreement had been reached in principle and the search for Hodgson’s successor was effectively over.

Except that proved premature.

Even through last night, the demands kept coming and, eventually, enough was enough. The club pulled the plug in the small hours of this morning.

The constant procrastination at Nuno’s end had raised their hackles, hardly representing the positive start to what was supposed to be a productive relationship, and the demands imposed by a manager whose team had finished one point and one place above Hodgson’s Palace in the table last season felt increasingly out of touch.

First was the overall cost of the package. Palace were comfortable with the wage demands put forward for Nuno himself, but he was insistent that he should be accompanied to south London by a significant entourage.

The suggestion was he would bring in two first-team coaches, a goalkeeping coach, at least one fitness coach and others whose roles across sports science and medicine seemed less well defined. All would command significant salaries. All would threaten the roles of the staff currently in place. And all would potentially leave en masse with Nuno if, for whatever reason, things did not work out.

And so began a drip-feed of unanticipated demands, caveats and “cake-and-eat-it clauses” put forward by Mendes, whether financial, contractual, logistical or over recruitment and staffing. The steady flow was now being delivered with the Everton job, which would mean working with a squad clearly better placed to compete for European qualification than Palace are, also up for grabs.

It is unclear just how enthusiastic the Merseyside club have ever been about recruiting Nuno, but talks of some kind are understood to have taken place and there was clearly a level of interest in the Portuguese’s camp over the prospect of working at Goodison Park. That complicated matters with Palace, not least because it further delayed the process.

Why would Nuno commit to Palace if he thought there was even a slim chance Everton might eventually make him an offer?

With that seed sown in the former Wolves head coach’s head, Palace suddenly found themselves in limbo for over a week with their control over the process undermined, fretting that they were merely being used as a means of leveraging a deal from Everton.

All the while, the clock was ticking down on the contracts of 11 first-team players at Selhurst Park — the group had been told collectively that no final decision would be made on renewals until a new manager was in place — and with the formal re-opening of the transfer window edging ever closer.

Nuno became elusive. It was increasingly impossible to secure a firm answer, or commitment, with the landscape forever shifting. Patience began to wear thin.

Even so, just yesterday, there was one final spasm of confidence that a deal could still be struck. Perhaps Nuno’s camp had resigned themselves to the reality that an offer was unlikely to be forthcoming from Everton, but there was a period on Tuesday evening when the noises were more positive again.

Palace, having made clear their previous frustrations, imposed a deadline — they had grown tired of waiting and needed a firm commitment — but believed it would be met. Word crept out that, as far as they were concerned, agreement had been reached in principle and the search for Hodgson’s successor was effectively over.

Except that proved premature.

Even through last night, the demands kept coming and, eventually, enough was enough. The club pulled the plug in the small hours of this morning.

The constant procrastination at Nuno’s end had raised their hackles, hardly representing the positive start to what was supposed to be a productive relationship, and the demands imposed by a manager whose team had finished one point and one place above Hodgson’s Palace in the table last season felt increasingly out of touch.