IF Radio 4 presenter James Naughtie really has been parachuted into Radio Scotland's breakfast show Good Morning Scotland, as some observers have said, then within a few hours of starting he had his first skirmish on the front line - with Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

Both Naughtie and Ms Sturgeon sounded on edge when the confrontation got going just after the 8am news.

Naughtie was probably uptight because he knew critics of the decision to bring him to Glasgow (especially those within BBC Scotland itself whose noses have been put out of joint) would be listening closely to see how he performed. Ms Sturgeon may have also been just as nervous because her opponents were also listening to see how the alpha female from Holyrood did up against the big beast from London.

As yesterday's interview got going, Ms Sturgeon tried to be nice. "Welcome to GMS," she said. "Thank you," said Naughtie. "It's very nice to be here." And then the tension started to show.

Ms Sturgeon started answering the first question in her usual unstoppable way, which most interviewers in Scotland usually let her away with. But Naughtie does his interviewing London-style and he interrupted. He then immediately apologised as if he suddenly realised he needed to be extra-sensitive as the man from London on his first day in Scotland.

The interview, which focused on the polls among other subjects, continued on its tetchy way with both of them increasingly sounding like a married couple who are always just a few seconds away from an argument.

It was as if Ms Sturgeon was trying to pick a fight - because she thought it would be good for her image - and Naughtie was trying to avoid one - because he knew it would be bad for his.

"We're having a conversation, not an argument," he said at one point as Ms Sturgeon continued to get worked up.

The result was a draw, although there are certainly some lessons for the usual team on Good Morning Scotland to learn. The first is that there is nothing wrong with a combative, challenging, perhaps even aggressive style in a broadcaster.

Next year's independence referendum is a sensitive issue and Scottish broadcasters are desperate to appear neutral but that doesn't mean you can't be tough. Perhaps they will learn that from Naughtie.

His first day on GMS also shone a light on the differences between it and the Today programme on Radio 4, which Naughtie will continue to present while doing two days a week in Glasgow.

One of the reasons Today is so much better than GMS is that it is not obsessed with trivialities such as the travel report. Poor Naughtie had to switch from his big interview with Ms Sturgeon to news of a wee traffic jam outside Aberdeen.

His assignment will work out, though, once everyone has got over their sensitivities about his temporary transfer.

There are TV and radio journalists who live in Scotland who could have taken on the job as the big beast on the referendum - Gordon Brewer for one, Kirsty Wark for another.

But the point is that Naughtie is the best man for the job and should be allowed to get on with it now without any more sniping about parachutes.

And was it my imagination or did the news appear just a little bit more positive now that Naughtie has started? Manufacturing orders are up, we were told. So is Scotland's GDP and employment. Now that a job has been created in Glasgow for a man in London, we know that the last one, at least, is true.