Stop messing about

Naughty boys are having fun with the country's major turf accountants, getting themselves on the odds list for next Director General. Tim Gatt, ITV News' digital output editor, is pleased to note that he's 5,000 to 1 with Ladbrokes.  The Daily Mail's deputy political editor, Tim Shipman is 1,000 to 1 with the same firm.

The fictional BBC commissioning editor, Tony Hayers, played by David Schneider in the Alan Partridge vehicle "Knowing Me, Knowing You", is 500 to 1 with Bet Victor.

Ric Bailey, the BBC's Chief Political Advisor, has entered the lists at 25/1.  I can't tell whether or not this is serious; it may be friends or family - everyone else spells his first name sensibly.

• Dan Sabbagh, in a piece with complicated attribution in The Guardian (sources close to a group of Trustees thought to include Alison Hastings) suggests a drive look outside the BBC once more. This presumably means than Ed Richards and "the man who can't be named", half of the previous final four, aren't in play. If the story's right, the odds on Dawn Airey and Peter Fincham will shorten.

• If Ed Llewellyn can't patch up the row between old boss Chris Patten and new boss David Cameron over George Entwistle's pay-off, then he'll be constructing a serious short-list for a new chair of the BBC Trust. I suspect it'll be very different from Paddy Power's initial suggestions.