Following George Burley's sacking as Scotland manager, Gareth Friel looks at the contenders to succeed him:
Craig Levein
The Dundee United boss is the early front-runner to succeed Burley and it's easy to see why given his recent record at Tannadice.
He has led the club to fifth in the SPL in his two full seasons in charge having taken over from Craig Brewster with the side rooted to the bottom of the table. United came agonisingly close to winning the CIS Cup in 2008 but lost out to Rangers on penalties, having conceded late equalisers in normal time and then extra-time.
The following season there was more heartbreak in the same competition as his side lost, again on penalties, to Celtic in the semi-finals.
He continues to get the best out of his players and you only have to look at his record against the Old Firm to see what an asset he could be for Scotland.
In 22 games against Rangers and Celtic, Levein has lost just eight - a very commendable record given the difference in budgets.
Levein, who won 16 caps during his playing career with Hearts, likes his teams to be well organised and hard to beat, but also attempts to get them playing decent passing football.
And he has a big commitment to youth football, revolutionising the system at Tannadice this year.
His poor time at Leicester may count against him but it's worth noting that the seven managers to have followed him have so far been unable to improve on his 15th-placed finish in the Championship in 2005 - they were relegated to League One the year after he departed.
Levein is a member of the board at United and may feel he can take the club further by winning qualification to the Europa League or by leading them to their first trophy since 1994 before returning to England.
If Walter Smith was to say no, Levein would be the obvious choice.
Walter Smith
If Smith wants the job then it should be his. He turned the national team around following Berti Vogts' shambolic reign while he stabilised Rangers in the wake of Paul Le Guen's ill-fated spell as manager.
At 61, he may not be the man for the long-term (although Giovanni Trapattoni is 70), but if the SFA want a man who can motivate and organise, then Smith must be the leading contender.
Between December 2004 and January 2007, he won seven, drew five and lost four of his 16 games in charge of Scotland, one of those victories was the famous 1-0 win over France at Hampden.
He has the experience of winning domestic trophies with Rangers and would command the respect of the dressing room, an area in which Burley appeared to be lacking.
Smith's contract at Ibrox ends in January but whether he is available to succeed Burley may depend on any takeover at Rangers.
Should the club attract new owners between now and then, you would fancy Smith to leave - if Sir David Murray is still in charge Smith may remain on a non-contract basis until the end of the season, therefore ruling him out of the running.
Sections of the Tartan Army may not welcome his appointment after he walked out to return to Rangers in the middle of the qualification campaign for Euro 2008. But it would be folly to hold a grudge against the best candidate for the job.
Jim Jefferies
I just can't see Jefferies taking over as manager of the national team. He has done fairly well on a limited budget at Kilmarnock but many fans of the Ayrshire club want change after finishing 8th in the SPL last season and 11th the term before.
He surely lacks the charisma for such a big role while he was found wanting in the English Premiership with Bradford, although in his defence, he suffered due to big budget cuts.
The longest-serving boss in the top-flight won the Scottish Cup with Hearts in 1998, making a decent title challenge the same year. But that was 11 years ago. His best league finish at Kille came in 2003.
He seems to be fancied by the bookies but thankfully I can't see the SFA opting for Jefferies.
Gary McAllister
McAllister turned down the chance to join George Burley's coaching staff recently to hold out for a job at club level - but he would surely jump at the chance to become the next Scotland boss.
He didn't have the best of times at Coventry, or more recently at Leeds, but with the role of national boss arguably suited to a good coach, the SFA may look to McAllister.
The likes of Germany, Holland and, most recently, the Czech Republic have appointed former players with little or no managerial experience and it's a route Scotland could explore.
With no compensation package required, McAllister would be a relatively cheap option. Perhaps he could bring in an experienced number two to steer him on the right path.
John Collins
Like McAliister, Collins is a hugely respected former Scotland midfielder and enjoyed relative success in his brief spell as Hibs manager before saving Belgian side Charleroi from relegation last season.
He showed he may have the man-management skills required for the job by taking a side mainly brought together by Tony Mowbray to CIS Cup success in 2007.
Collins continually preaches playing football the "right way" ("I love my teams to play beautiful football," he said at his first press conference in Belgium). But would he be able to combine his principles with being well-organised and hard to beat?
Burley opted for an open, expansive style of play at the expense of defensive solidity and failed badly for it.
Collins is well respected in the game and despite his relative lack of experience, he was interviewed for the West Ham post before Gianfranco Zola was appointed manager.
He would not be at the top of my list, but I would be fairly happy if Collins was to get the nod.
Jimmy Calderwood
Statistics will tell you Calderwood was a very successful Aberdeen manager. He continually led the Dons to the top six in the SPL and famously made the last 32 of the UEFA Cup, beating FC Copenhagen 4-0 to get there before holding German giants Bayern Munich to a 2-2 draw at Pittodrie.
But he never quite won over the Aberdeen faithful thanks to horrific cup exits at the hands of Queen's Park, Queen of the South and Dunfermline.
The 4-3 Hampden defeat to QOS in the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup in 2008 is a particular sore point for the fans as they had knocked Celtic out in the previous round and had real hopes of winning the competition for the first time since 1990.
Calderwood has managed in Holland and was relatively successful at Dunfermline - but consistently losing in cup competitions to lower league sides has to be a big worry.
Is he tactically aware enough to make an impact at this level? Many Dons fans don't think so, his continual changing of formation and personnel a source of frustration.
But he is out of work so would not cost anything in compensation. He is certainly a good manager at club level but I'm not sure he is cut out for the step up to international level.
Other contenders:
Darren Ferguson has been mentioned but how much knowledge does he have of Scottish football having managed in the lower leagues in England with Peterborough for the last few years? He does seem to have a lot of potential but would represent a huge risk.
Ally McCoist was Walter Smith's number two so has experience of the national team set-up and was of course a successful international striker in his playing days. He seems to be holding out for the Rangers job.
Billy Stark is making a decent fist of things with the Under-21's while Alan Irvine has impressed in his short spell as manager of Preston.
Send us your opinions on who should be the next Scotland manager. Send your feedback to gareth.friel@bskyb.com
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