The glaziers have the easy job.

A couple of hours should be all they need to fix the shattered remains of the door of the Scotland coaching booth. But the frustrations that led to its sudden demise on Saturday afternoon might take Vern Cotter and his assistants rather longer to sort out.

While they smashed, Italy grabbed. Scotland are not exactly unfamiliar with the experience of losing to the Italians. This was the Azzurri's seventh Six Nations championship victory over the Scots, but no previous defeat has been quite as painful - or should that be paneful? - as this. We came to Murrayfield expecting to see the fulfilment of Scottish promise; what we witnessed was its ignominious end.

And there can be no complaints. Yes, Italy were limited, but they deserved to win as Scotland's failings in critical areas lay at the root of this result. Cotter's side made mistakes that were both silly and costly and they coughed up soft points. They failed to deal with the driving maul that brought two Italian tries. They were on the wrong side of the penalty count yet again. When all that happens they had to expect to be on the wrong side of the scoreboard as well.

Much more of this and we will have to think up a new nickname for 'Stern' Vern. The Scotland coach looked drained on Saturday evening, almost chastened. "I never expected it to be easy," he said at one point. Maybe not, but it is hard to imagine that he thought it would be this hard.

If Cotter did his homework before deciding to leave Clermont Auvergne he might have noticed a familiar trajectory with Scottish coaches, with early optimism giving way to drab reality. But he is now staring down the barrel of what looks likely to be Scotland's third championship whitewash since the turn of the century, an outcome that could leave his reputation in a similar state to that door.

Yet if Cotter's Murrayfield masters did their background checks as well, they would have seen that he took time to transform the perennial also-rans into one of Europe's top sides. On Saturday, he was asked if that experience could be put to good use as he tries to haul Scotland out of their trough.

"I'm not panicking," he said firmly. "We don't like losing, but there were some valuable experiences taken by players who have not played a lot of Test rugby. I think it will be important for them because they are hard-working players.

"They are very proud to put the jersey on, so they are disappointed. Those will be motivating factors and as soon as we address a couple of things and act upon them I think we will get a shift forward.

"The guys are a humble, hard-working bunch. We know we can't get through without being at best. It is just a matter of training and preparing so that we are, and then technically we learn and understand situations and scenarios.

"When we get into situation where momentum is with us, how do we get points from that? How do we absorb pressure and then apply back on? Those are things we will be looking at."

Of course, when Cotter was in France he also had the advantage of having access to one of the fattest cheque books in world rugby. Nipping out and buying a John Smit, a Morgan Parra or a Wesley Fofana is not an option in his current job. As Jim Telfer used to say, albeit in fruitier terms than could ever be reprinted in a family newspaper, a Scotland coach has to work with what he's got.

At least that will include Finn Russell by the time the Scots travel to Twickenham for their Calcutta Cup clash in 12 days time. It would be nonsensical to blame Peter Horne, Russell's deputy at fly-half, for this result, but his failure to find touch with a penalty three minutes from the end was the most lurid of all the errors as it led directly to Italy's winning penalty try. In fairness, the rest of Horne's game was sound enough, and he did appear to cramp up in the act of taking that vital kick.

Moreover, Scotland should have put the game to bed, told it a story and tucked it in nicely long before that brutal passage of play. When you put 10 points on the board in the first seven minutes you have to work pretty hard to lose, but that is what Scotland seemed to do. Critically, when Italy worked out how to deal with Scotland's wide attack, the Scots appeared to have no plan B. It is the mark of a good team that it can fix the roof in a storm, can make tactical adjustments in the course of a game.

Selection-wise, Cotter is not exactly overloaded with options. Either Adam Ashe or Dave Denton, both of whom returned to action with their clubs, could come into the equation at No.8. Geoff Cross's powerful scrummaging in the final few minutes could give him the nod ahead of Euan Murray. The boldest call of all would be to replace Greig Laidlaw, who has lacked the sharpness he had in the autumn Tests, with Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, but it is hard to imagine that happening with England next on the bill.

In reality, it is more about knocking the side into shape, fast-tracking them to maturity and teaching them that you raise your concentration levels after scoring and don't treat yourself to 40 winks. Scotland should have broken Italy's will and should have been out of sight by half-time; instead they led by just one point.

Mark Bennett's performance, and especially his early interception try, were plus points. But the Scots' inability to arrest the driving maul gave Josh Furno his first-half try and then led to the penalty try at the end. There was a freakish element to Giovanbattista Venditti's rebound try just before the break, but the Scottish players should still have mopped up the danger.jon

Scotland began this tournament with high hopes. Three games in, that optimism has been splintered.