THE coincidence may not be entirely lost on Billy Stark.

Like his old friend, Tommy Burns, the man with whom he spent three years coaching at Celtic, in all likelihood the 55-year-old will be permitted to take charge of his country at full international level for just one solitary November friendly, before being thanked for his services and expected to return to his day job.

Although a 4-1 friendly defeat to Sweden at Easter Road in 2004 wasn't exactly the most auspicious of debuts, Burns left the SFA nursing a lingering sense of resentment that he was not considered for the role of national team coach after the departure of Walter Smith. There is a logic to promoting an Under-21 manager from within – Craig Brown, the last man to navigate Scotland to a major finals, was appointed that way – and few people know more about the next wave of Scotland's young footballers. But Stark, a player who somehow escaped international honours, also seems fated to be overlooked when it comes to the dug-out.

The former Morton, St Johnstone and Queen's Park coach – who will be assisted by Donald Park and whose Under-21 responsibilities will go to Ricky Sbragia, assisted by Scott Booth and Dean Gorre – will have wrestled with his conscience ahead of naming today's squad, but it is typical of the downbeat, unfussy manner he goes about his business that he has quietly conceded that the needs of the nation come first.

He has yet to lead any of his national youth teams to a major finals but there is hardly any disgrace in that, as only eight teams qualify for the continental finals at Under-21 level, and it wasn't so long ago that a group including the likes of Barry Bannan, David Goodwillie and Chris Maguire were just coming up short in a thrilling play-off against Iceland. Few would deny that his time at Scotland's youth teams has demonstrated he is methodical, tactically astute and a good at coaxing big performances from occasionally wayward young talents.

If Stark doesn't feature on any SFA short-list, it must be because a luckless career in club management failed meant he didn't uproot too many trees. After being unbeaten in three games as a post-Burns caretaker at Celtic Park, Stark had the misfortune to work with a Greenock Morton side who were being methodically picked apart by disgraced former owner Hugh Scott, then pitch up in Perth when a team assembled by Sandy Clark were already all but doomed to relegation. The rehabilitation of his career began at Hampden when his Queen's Park side of 2006/2007 won promotion from the third division which was impressive enough for him to be taken in-house at Mount Florida.

"In life you have got people who are great, people who are not so good, people who are lucky and people who aren't so lucky," said Geoff Brown, Stark's former chairman at St Johnstone. "For me, Billy Stark is one who hasn't had the luckiest of careers. His time at St Johnstone was fraught through the team getting relegated – which was not of his doing – and failing to get success the next season, amid changes to the board and what-have-you. He was also there at the time when I had a fair old period out through illness, so he certainly didn't have my full attention. He is a super guy, a very good manager and a very, very good man manager. I don't think he will have any problems with guys who – what shall we say – have ideas above their station."

Not only has Stark worked with established players such as Steven Fletcher and Steven Naismith, it was he who initially put the call into Jordan Rhodes' father, Andy, to sound out his availability for Scotland. He has worked with all the other likely candidates to be fast-tracked into today's full squad – such as Celtic's Tony Watt, Hibs trio Leigh Griffiths, David Wotherspoon and Paul Hanlon; Kilmarnock's Liam Kelly, or on-loan Portsmouth playmaker Scott Allan.

"I was the Under-21 coach and they gave me the job, just as Billy Stark's the Under-21 coach," said Craig Brown yesterday. "I had four qualifying campaigns and managed to get out of the group on three of them."

The other thing which doesn't work in Stark's favour is his perceived lack of box office. "It all comes round to this profile scenario, where you have to be able to sell the game to supporters, sponsors and everyone else. Billy's a very competent guy but I am not saying he is a salesman when it goes out to the marketplace and you are looking for 50,000 or 60,000 tickets to be sold for games at Hampden. This is where we all tend to make mistakes – and go for guys who are salesmen rather than those who are best at the job."

PROFILE SFA could do worse than promote from within, but Under-21 coach understands needs of nation come first, writes Stewart Fisher

THE coincidence may not be entirely lost on Billy Stark. Like his old friend, Tommy Burns, the man with whom he spent three years coaching at Celtic, in all likelihood the 55-year-old will be permitted to take charge of his country at full international level for just one solitary November friendly, before being thanked for his services and expected to return to his day job.

Although a 4-1 friendly defeat to Sweden at Easter Road in 2004 wasn't exactly the most auspicious of debuts, Burns left the SFA nursing a lingering sense of resentment that he was not considered for the role of national team coach after the departure of Walter Smith. There is a logic to promoting an Under-21 manager from within – Craig Brown, the last man to navigate Scotland to a major finals, was appointed that way – and few people know more about the next wave of Scotland's young footballers. But Stark, a player who somehow escaped international honours, also seems fated to be overlooked when it comes to the dug-out.

The former Morton, St Johnstone and Queen's Park coach – who will be assisted by Donald Park and whose Under-21 responsibilities will go to Ricky Sbragia, assisted by Scott Booth and Dean Gorre – will have wrestled with his conscience ahead of naming today's squad, but it is typical of the downbeat, unfussy manner he goes about his business that he has quietly conceded that the needs of the nation come first.

He has yet to lead any of his national youth teams to a major finals but there is hardly any disgrace in that, as only eight teams qualify for the continental finals at Under-21 level, and it wasn't so long ago that a group including the likes of Barry Bannan, David Goodwillie and Chris Maguire were just coming up short in a thrilling play-off against Iceland. Few would deny that his time at Scotland's youth teams has demonstrated he is methodical, tactically astute and a good at coaxing big performances from occasionally wayward young talents.

If Stark doesn't feature on any SFA short-list, it must be because a luckless career in club management failed meant he didn't uproot too many trees. After being unbeaten in three games as a post-Burns caretaker at Celtic Park, Stark had the misfortune to work with a Greenock Morton side who were being methodically picked apart by disgraced former owner Hugh Scott, then pitch up in Perth when a team assembled by Sandy Clark were already all but doomed to relegation. The rehabilitation of his career began at Hampden when his Queen's Park side of 2006/2007 won promotion from the third division which was impressive enough for him to be taken in-house at Mount Florida.

"In life you have got people who are great, people who are not so good, people who are lucky and people who aren't so lucky," said Geoff Brown, Stark's former chairman at St Johnstone. "For me, Billy Stark is one who hasn't had the luckiest of careers. His time at St Johnstone was fraught through the team getting relegated – which was not of his doing – and failing to get success the next season, amid changes to the board and what-have-you. He was also there at the time when I had a fair old period out through illness, so he certainly didn't have my full attention. He is a super guy, a very good manager and a very, very good man manager. I don't think he will have any problems with guys who – what shall we say – have ideas above their station."

Not only has Stark worked with established players such as Steven Fletcher and Steven Naismith, it was he who initially put the call into Jordan Rhodes' father, Andy, to sound out his availability for Scotland. He has worked with all the other likely candidates to be fast-tracked into today's full squad – such as Celtic's Tony Watt, Hibs trio Leigh Griffiths, David Wotherspoon and Paul Hanlon; Kilmarnock's Liam Kelly, or on-loan Portsmouth playmaker Scott Allan.

"I was the Under-21 coach and they gave me the job, just as Billy Stark's the Under-21 coach," said Craig Brown yesterday. "I had four qualifying campaigns and managed to get out of the group on three of them."

The other thing which doesn't work in Stark's favour is his perceived lack of box office. "It all comes round to this profile scenario, where you have to be able to sell the game to supporters, sponsors and everyone else. Billy's a very competent guy but I am not saying he is a salesman when it goes out to the marketplace and you are looking for 50,000 or 60,000 tickets to be sold for games at Hampden. This is where we all tend to make mistakes – and go for guys who are salesmen rather than those who are best at the job."