Mind the gap: Ricky Sbragia distances himself from Scotland under-21 role

Billy Stark couldn't reverse that trend, although it wasn't for the lack of trying. Stark spent almost seven years in charge of the under-21s, as part of a wider remit to oversee the development of the national youth set-up, before deciding on Tuesday that it was time to move on.

Ricky Sbragia will take charge for the forthcoming friendly away to Switzerland on November 18 but expressed little desire to take on the post on a permanent basis.

"I'm happy where I am," said the former Sunderland manager. "I enjoy looking after the under-19s and under-18s. If I was offered the job I'd have to think about it. But I do enjoy the younger element."

Measuring success at youth level is a subjective business, but the next head coach of the under-21s will be expected to produce positive results while also continuing the development of young talent, ideally all the way into the A squad. On both fronts, Stark can look back over a mixed record.

He oversaw three full qualifying campaigns, enjoying most success with his first when Scotland won their group ahead of Belarus and Austria. That, however, did not guarantee a place in the finals but instead led to a two-legged play-off against an up-and-coming Iceland side who won 4-2 on aggregate. Gylfi Sigurdsson, the Swansea City midfielder, scored both goals in the return leg at Easter Road.

Qualification for Euro 2013 also offered promise but ultimately delivered disappointment. Scotland were undefeated in two games against the Netherlands, winning 2-1 away and drawing 0-0 at home, but could only finish second as a result of too many draws in other matches. Their overall record wasn't good enough to earn them a play-off on that occasion.

In the campaign recently concluded for next summer's finals, Scotland finished third behind the Dutch and Slovakia. The 6-1 defeat to to the Netherlands was a particularly sore one for Stark to endure, although, as he did point out, it was also Scotland's first competitive home defeat in six years.

A 6-0 lashing in a friendly with England and a 4-0 reverse to the Dutch away from home made Stark's final year in charge a difficult one to bear. "It's a competition where there is no margin for error," Stark said with typical candour after the 6-1 Dutch drubbing.

"We've not found the consistency I would like, even though there have been bits of promise. But in terms of qualification it's not been anywhere near good enough."

The gap between the under-21s and the full squad has proven to be too large for many of Stark's charges to bridge. Many players who looked accomplished at youth level have failed to make the transition.

Of the team that played against Iceland in October 2010, for example. only Barry Bannan is now a regular at senior level. Not one of the side that started in the famous defeat of the Dutch in Nijmegen in November 2011 can be found in Gordon Strachan's squad, although James Forrest would be a likely candidate if fit.

Strachan of late has tried to introduce younger players into his squads, with Rangers' Lewis Macleod the latest to follow in the path trodden by Callum McGregor and Ryan Gauld. That, says Sbragia, is encouraging, although he is at a loss to explain why more don't make the step up from the under-21s.

"I don't actually know why that is," he added. "I think that is up to the Scotland manager. There are talks about who should go up and they would have been between Billy and the manager at the time.

"But Gordon has made an opening for the younger players to have a taste of it. They might not be playing but they get that taste of having a five-day or seven-day experience at the A level and how it maybe differs from the under-21s or under-19s. That is great for them."

Stark's departure follows the recent exit of Mark Wotte, the Scottish Football Association's performance director, while the likes of John Collins, Scott Booth and Ray McKinnon have all left jobs in the Scotland youth set-up to return to club football over the last few years.

"The one thing about international football is you do miss the everyday attachment to a club," added Sbragia. "At international level you're maybe with the players out on a training pitch only five or six times a year. So you miss the every day element.

"Billy and Mark might think they've done their bit, laid the foundations. Sometimes you look at the bigger picture and think, 'I've done everything I can, I need to move on.'"

Despite the departure of Stark and Wotte, Sbragia does not expect the system to come grinding to a halt. "The structure is still in place and things will carry on. Mark put in the foundations extremely well and planned what he thought was right.

"Billy's a respected man. I've a lot of time for him and I'm sad to see him go. Whoever comes in will have to share the philosophy for Scottish football and how best to take the game forward."