Wistle blown

When I last typed up the 2012 DG Stakes site (yes, folks it was me !), it was the 4th of July. Patten had got the man he wanted all along, having made the route to selection look sufficiently rigorous. I never thought I'd have to reopen the book with the year.

George Entwistle's second last missive to staff ended "Have a good weekend". It seems all a bit too rapid, but his grip on events had become so fragile, it didn't take much to loosen his hold entirely. He may even genuinely have let go himself. An honourable man, but the presentation skills that apparently charmed the Trust, who selected him over Caroline Thomson, Ed Richards and a man who cannot be named, have proved entirely inadequate. The nerves were broken by the amateur Robin Days of the Culture Select Committee over Savile/Newsnight, and clearly frayed to snapping point by the home team's John Humphrys over Unnamed Tory Grandee/Newsnight.  Nobody seemed to have coached or rehearsed him for either event; he tried to get the rather odd PR support of David Yelland, but got told off by Patten. At 50, if you're going to be a CEO, very few organisations will wait until you grow into the job. And frankly, there are few important BBC questions to which the correct answer is another attempt at a Ken MacQuarrie report.

Tim Davie, who didn't even make the final four, gets to mind the shop. Patten has three options - split the job into CEO and Editor-In-Chief, a bad solution for which the siren voices are getting louder; start the recruitment process all over again; or discover that the Personnel Officer marked Caroline Thomson "also suitable" (an historic BBC device), eat humble pie and ask her back.

Rather than speculate in three directions, as many of you would like me to do, I shall wait for grim-faced Chris on the Marr show....