Mihir Bose and the £150 truffle linguine

Commentators writing about Mihir Bose's shock resignation have missed the story spectacularly.

Bose resigned as BBC sports editor knowing there was about to be a storm over his expenses.

Investigative journalist Andrew Jennings has submitted a freedom of info request for Bose's BBC expenses. And even Jennings was surprised by the results.

The most eye watering item was the £150 paid for a starter at a restaurant in Zurich two years ago.

The meal in question was a truffle linguine. Bose was unaware that the price depended on the amount of truffle the diner asked to be grated onto the pasta...and he told the waiter to just keep on grating.

Jennings is about to publish the highly embarrassing results in Private Eye.

The papers are poised. Lucky for the BBC that the "lethargic Bose" (as Jennings describes him) has departed TV Centre.

Woodward accused of blood faking

Wondered why Sir Clive Woodward has been so uncharacteristically quiet during the Bloodgate scandal?

Could be because he himself faking of blood injuries.

Former Leicester and England star Richard Cockerill described in his autobiography how a cut on his hand was opened up by medical staff when he played for his country under Woodward.

Other players have, under the promise of anonymity, backed this up, as has a former England team doctor.

Not really the kind of behavious you would expect from a Sir...

Curbishley in line for Newcastle job

Speculation that David O'Leary could become Newcastle's new boss is wide of the mark, because the man firmly in the frame is Alan Curbishley.

The former Charlton and West Ham manager is represented by First Artists - the same management company that Magpies owner Mike Ashley has used to offload a number of first-team players on big wages, such as Michael Owen and Obafemi Martins.

Ashley trusts First Artists and their chief John Smith implicitly and Smith has been extolling Curbishley's virtues.

Curbishley, in turn, is keen to get back into football and sees Newcastle as a great job - a big team in turmoil which can be turned around with a bit of expert management.

Watch this space...

Bevington passed over for Man City job

Adrian Bevington, the FA's charmless director of communications, has been turned down for the same role at moneybags Manchester City.

The job instead went to Vicky Kloss, who served under former director Paul Tyrell.

Bevington has already enjoyed a highly fortuitous rise up the ladder at the FA.

He joined as a junior member of their press office after having been a junior member of Middlesbrough's press team. Resignations then helped him to climb to his current role, in which he has had rather mixed fortunes.

I doubt whether Sven-Goran Eriksson or Steve McClaren would say he handled their press very well. He's hardly proactive or good at building relationships with the press, which are crucial to success in such a role.

Dan Johnson, the charming, proactive and intelligent head of communications at the Premier League could certainly teach him a thing or two.

Hammers won't land Moon after tragic road death

West Ham have had to call off their pursuit of promising defender Bryce Moon, in a story which tells you much about modern South Africa.

Earlier in the summer, the Hammers agreed a fee with Panathinaikos for the 23-year-old right-back and he was keen to move to Upton Park.

Then disaster struck. On Monday 29 June, Moon's Mercedes hit 25-year-old cleaner Mavis Ncube on a road in the Sandton area of Johannesburg and she later died.

Moon was travelling home from a party held by Bafana Bafana captain Aaron Moekena. He admitted he had had two beers at the party, but denied he was drunk.

Initial reports that a blood sample had been taken at the scene and that Moon had been charged with culpable homicide were later dismissed by police and inquiries are ongoing.

Anyone who has visited South Africa won't be surprised to hear these allegations of drink driving, as it seems to be a problem of epidemic proportions in the country.

I encountered seemingly respectable people drink driving when I visited, claiming "it's what we do here".

While Moon might be disappointed that his move to the Premiership has fallen through, our thoughts should be with the victim.

There were reports that three hospitals had refused to admit Ncube because she did not have medical insurance, claims which were denied by the hospitals in question...

Bose leaves BBC

Mihir Bose, the BBC's lacklustre sports editor, has resigned from his job with immediate effect for personal reasons.

The 62-year-old is currently staying with family in India and has no plans for other roles at the moment.

Bose has been a controversial figure within the Corporation since becoming its first sports editor in October 2006.

He has failed to bring in the exclusive stories of contemporaries such as economics editor Robert Peston, his blog has been derided and his haughty manner has upset some.

The BBC has not yet decided whether it will appoint a replacement.

Bose was unhappy that head of sport Barbara Slater had decided to move his role to Salford in 2011, when he had originally been told he could stay in London.