In Macbeth, the Scottish king rages at Banquo’s ghost while those present at the feast can only see an empty chair.

In the Shakespearean setting of the Church of Scotland’s Assembly Hall last week, shareholders in the Royal Bank of Scotland were full of sound and fury as they tackled outgoing chief executive Sir Fred Goodwin on the need for a £20 billion government bailout.

But, like Banquo, it was as if Goodwin wasn’t there. He rarely spoke and merged into the blue and black funereal background, which, given Goodwin’s description of the government’s intervention in the banking crisis as “more of a drive-by shooting than negotiation”, seemed rather appropriate.

As his career at RBS entered its death throes, Goodwin sat quietly, listening to chairman Sir Tom McKillop apologising on behalf of the board for the bank’s perilous state. And when Goodwin’s replacement, Stephen Hester, was called to speak, the new boss failed even to mention his predecessor’s name. Maybe he could only see an empty chair.

As exits go, it was pretty poor and, in my opinion, undeserved. The current situation is terrible and shareholders are understandably angry at the loss of value but, as the woes at Citigroup and concerns about Barclays’ recent fund-raising show, nobody is immune.

Goodwin, however, seems to have been under constant attack since the NatWest acquisition, even though he usually shrugged it off like Macbeth believing his “castle’s strength will laugh a siege to scorn”.

For much of the time, he was right. RBS’s success built a strong fortress, but it began to crumble in the last six months. As Goodwin had spent very little time courting popular support, when the walls came tumbling down there were plenty on hand to help with the demolition.

If I were feeling generous, I would describe RBS’s media strategy as “arm’s length” but in reality it was simply poor, which, in turn, created plenty of new recruits for his army of detractors.

But, as the only shareholder at the meeting to speak up for him said, Goodwin’s success over the years should not be forgotten. It certainly deserved more public recognition from his successor.

Hester, however, has a tough job ahead of him. He has to rebuild a lot of trust and could face as much as three years before the bank is able to start paying out dividends. He will certainly never preside over a bank as big as the one Goodwin created.

As for Goodwin, it is hard to see him remaining in banking, but I hear rumours that he is already being touted as the man to take over from Max Mosley running FIA, the body that governs Formula One. Yes, that Max Mosley.

In my view, Goodwin would be a good choice. He knows plenty about motor sport and money, the two things that matter at F1, as well being a dab hand at cutting costs, which is going to become more important in these austere times.

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