It may even stretch as far as Dundee, according to Walter Smith, the manager of Rangers, who has pushed the claims of Craig Levein.

May I humbly suggest the answer is closer to home?

The man for the Scotland job? Shuffle forward Craig Brown.

Right, settle down at the back. I hear the protests. He is 69. He has been out of work for a couple of years. Scotland has been down that road.

But let us look at the record. Brown was a successful manager of Clyde, Scotland and Preston North End. He won two second division championships with Clyde, and as Scotland manager qualified for Euro 96 and the World Cup in 1998. As Andy Roxburgh’s assistant, he has had experience of qualifying for the Euros in 1992. As a coach of the young squads, he led the under-21s to the quarter-finals of the 1988 UEFA championships and the semi-finals of the same tournament in 1992. In eight years as Scotland manager, he lost only nine competitive games.

The coaching credentials are therefore substantial.

But what about his age? Brown is four years into his pension, but one wants him to manage the team, not play centre-half. His age and experience should not be held against him. Sir Alex Ferguson is heading towards 68 and age does not discount him from managing the biggest club in the world.

Giovanni Trapattoni will be 71 next year, yet was at the helm of an impressive, though unsuccessful, tilt at qualification for South Africa by the Republic of Ireland.

Brown, too, has kept fully involved in football with his professional commitments as a commentator on the game for BBC and his personal obsession with it.

Having dealt with the perceived downside of age and semi-retirement, it is time to reflect on what Brown can bring to the table. Briefly, he knows how to qualify for major tournaments, he knows how to set up a team and he knows Scottish football. He is also someone who could take the national team through a turbulent time while the SFA consider a long-term successor. I would choose Billy Davies as his assistant. His achievements at Preston, Derby County and now Nottingham Forest mark him as among the best coaching talents in the game.

I accept that Davies has the ambition to manage at the higest club level, but he could coach Scotland part-time. Leave Brown to do the scouting, pick the squad, discuss fixtures and keep the press and the SFA officials at bay. And give Davies the opportunity to work with the players for a couple of days during the international fixtures week.

If this proves impossible to arrange, then Brown could be paired with any one of Scotland’s young coaches. They do not need to leave their permament jobs. Would John Hughes or Levein resist an opportunity to work with international players? Could John Collins, Derek McInnes, Owen Coyle, Alan Irvine, Kenny McDowall, Ally McCoist or Peter Grant envisage taking a session or two?

Briefly, Brown’s assistant need not be a permanent appointment. There is the opportunity for a freshness in coaching to be brought to the squad with Brown overseeing affairs. The young coaches, too, would surely benefit from dealing with players of the calibre of Darren Fletcher, James McFadden and Alan Hutton.

The Brown option even has the benefit of being cost-effective. A cash-strapped SFA would not have to pay top dollar. This would be a labour of love for Brown.

But would it be successful for Scotland? Past experience suggests there would be organisation and no humiliations. Brown teams may not be adventurous, but they do not lose to inferior opponents. He could draw up a template, most probably 3-5-2, with a holding midfielder protecting the back three and the two full-backs pushing on.

How about this as a Scotland side? Craig Gordon; Christophe Berra, Gary Caldwell, Stephen McManus; Alan Hutton, Kevin Thomson, Scott Brown, Darren Fletcher, Lee Wallace; James McFadden, Steven Fletcher. There are other candidates for inclusion: Graham Dorrans, Shaun Maloney, Darren Barr, Garry O’Connor, Ross McCormack, Chris Burke, Kenny Miller, James Morrison, Kevin McDonald.

There is, then, the basis of a decent side. And Brown has proved more than a decent manager at this level. His claims may be scorned by some but imagine, say, an Italian with a record of taking international sides to World Cup finals applied for the Scotland job. There would be a clamour to sign him up.

The best option, though, is Wee Broon from Troon.