Post-match analysis

Shall I compare thee to Ronald Koeman ?

Ian Katz has left Newsnight of his own volition, for a top job, potentially worth half a million a year more than his current £151,600, if he keeps Channel 4 ahead of Channel 5. Koeman will get another berth - plus compensation of at least £3m for Everton FC ending his three-year contract early.

Neither Katz nor Koeman seemed sure of their best team, despite acquiring a range of middle-weight talent. Katz opted to replace big beast Paxman/Lukaku with Evan Davies, but also has commitments to Kirsty Wark, Emily Maitlis and James O'Brien. He's flirted with Eddie Mair, Robert Peston, Victoria Derbyshire, Laura Kuenssberg, Nick Ferrari and Emma Barnett in the presenter's chair. He's acquired new correspondents, including Nick Watt (from The Guardian), Christopher Cook (FT), Helen Thomas (Wall Street Journal) and Katie Razzall (C4). He has a roster of jobbing reporters including John Sweeney and, occasionally, Ian Katz.

He's tried his best with new media, using Facebook to provide live coverage of daytime events like The Budget. If these ventures had been a huge success, I'm sure we'd have heard about it. He's tried open-ended shows and tighter 45 minutes; he's had arts-y Fridays given and taken away; he's had longer regional bulletins on BBC1 eating into his figures; and no sign of a coherent BBC News strategy for Thursdays, when Question Time and This Week hoover up Newsnight's target audience.

He doesn't have a big budget for thoughtful foreign films; principals in UK political stories don't need to make   Newsnight a priority anymore (and slightly miss Paxo); his casting of surrogates in discussions is often uncomfortable.  He can point to some good reporting - Grenfell and Kids Company most recently, and good Brexit stuff - but the stadium isn't rocking like the old days. It's embarassing that the ITV pilot After The News, on a shoestring talk radio-style budget, has been a real rival.

The next editor will need a change of style. I'd be interested in a more clubby, relaxed approach. This Week covers more ground and with more humour, without a designer kitchen set, from a studio a quarter of the size of Newsnight's shiny floor.

The interregnum must be short; last time there was a gap we got the McAlpine mess. The same holds for Everton FC - whatever the question, David Unsworth isn't the answer.