Ian Dyson...

I was going to blog at the end of last week, but then never got around to it, about why Ian Dyson would be the obvious and perfect candidate for the job of Betfair CEO.

He was CFO at Rank and then M&S; he's widely admired in the City; he's got the CEO badge; he's been on the Board at Betfair for the last year; as an insider, he won't have the problem that anyone who comes from elsewhere in the gambling industry would have (in that he can credibly tell people why Betfair remains the future of the industry, without the obvious come-back that he was saying the opposite when he worked at Paddy Power/Ladbrokes/Bwin/take-your-pick); and his appointment would not irk any of the existing management team, which includes some obvious good candidates who might fairly feel aggrieved if the Number Two at some competitor were appointed in front of them more for political expediency than anything else.

The obvious sticking point, I was going to say, was that he'd only been at Punch Taverns for a year, but I was going to argue that his job there was basically done now that it has split.

And then lo and behold, the news comes out this morning that he's quit.

Lump on.