Paddock empties...

"In disarray", says The Times, of the state of the recruitment process for the next Chairman of the BBC Trust. After Lord Coe's false start, The Times says that Baroness Hogg and Martyn Rose are not (and may never have been) contenders. The Guardian says Marjorie Scardino is not playing.  Lord Burns more or less ruled himself out at the recent C4 results news conference.

New Trustee Nick Prettejohn has emerged as an applicant, apparently backed by Chancellor George Osborne, who seems to be taking an alarming interest in the minutiae of the process. Former BBC producer Thea Rogers is part of the Osborne spin team.

First interviews start on Thursday. If the process isn't in disarray, the bookies' odds are. Paddy Power's offers have disappeared; below is Ladbroke's this morning, with my red crosses......