Wanted: one patriotic philanthropist to underwrite the appointment of the next Scotland manager; a modern-day Andrew Carnegie. Must not be looking for anything in return except the gratitude of the downtrodden Tartan Army.
Getting rid of George Burley was the easy bit. Finding his successor is set to prove more problematic. SFA chief executive Gordon Smith has begun the search and is determined to find "the best possible replacement," for a man who won three times in 14 games before escaping with a settlement worth more than £300,000 for his troubles. Easier said than done. The post is reportedly worth around £300,000 a year which, daft as it may sound to the man in the street, restricts SFA ambitions. The big names in world football will not be approached.
On top of that, the bookies' early favourites - Dundee United manager Craig Levein and Rangers boss Walter Smith - appear to have distanced themselves from the job.
The long-list of remaining potential candidates, which includes Craig Brown, Jim Jefferies and Jimmy Calderwood, points to the lack of a natural successor.
So what are the SFA to do? What about exploring the possibility of attracting a benefactor, in the way that allowed the Irish FA to entice legendary Italian boss Giovanni Trapattoni to the Republic of Ireland in February, 2008, following the disastrous tenure of Steve Staunton?
One of Ireland’s foremost entrepreneurs, Denis O’Brien, who made his fortune from telecommunications and media enterprises, delighted the Irish FA when he volunteered to part-fund Trapattoni’s wages.
Explaining his generosity, O’Brien said at the time: "I’m a great believer if you hire the right people you get the right results," and that philosophy appears to have been vindicated.
Third seeds behind Italy and Bulgaria in their World Cup qualifying group, Ireland went unbeaten in 10 games to clinch second spot and a play-off spot with France. Their impressive record of four wins and six defeats in the campaign could have been even better as Trapattoni's side were twice unlucky to only draw against world champions Italy.
On the face of it, there is little to choose between the Scotland squad and their Irish counterparts.
Goalkeepers Shay Given and Craig Gordon are comparable, and arguably the best players in their respective sides.
Ireland's back four of John O'Shea, Sean St Ledger, Richard Dunne and Kevin Kilbane are perhaps a stronger unit than Alan Hutton, Stephen McManus, Gary Caldwell and Danny Fox, and certainly on current form. But all things being equal, there can't be much in it, surely? St Ledger, who is on loan at Middlesbrough from Preston North End, has never played in the Premier League. Converted left back Kilbane is currently out of the Hull City team.
Scotland would, on paper, shade the central midfield battle. The Irish pair of Glenn Whelan and Keith Andrews are now of Stoke City and Blackburn Rovers respectively. You would have to think that Darren Fletcher and either Scott Brown or Barry Robson, at their best, have more ability.
Liam Lawrence battles with Aiden McGeady for the right midfield spot and either would edge out Steven Naismith or Ross McCormack. However, on the other flank, James McFadden, if played there, would be a match for Damien Duff.
If Scotland's new boss, whoever he may be, is of a mind to recall Kris Boyd, who withdrew his services under Burley, you would take his goalscoring threat over Wolves' Kevin Doyle, who has spent much of his career in the Championship.
Robbie Keane, though, is admittedly a class above what Scotland can offer in attack, either in the shape of Kenny Miller, Steven Fletcher or Kevin Kyle.
However, on the other hand, Irish squad players like Martin Rowlands, Stephen Hunt, Liam Miller and Noel Hunt are arguably inferior to Shaun Maloney, Derek Riordan, Ross McCormack and Steven Whittaker.
Thus, with little between the two squads, why the difference in recent achievements of both countries? We must assume it is down to the manager and the old idiom - you only get what you pay for.
Veteran Trapattoni, his legendary status able to command the respect of the players, has worked tirelessly on a tight and strict 4-4-2 system, making the Republic of Ireland greater than the sum of its parts. He has made his side difficult to beat and with results has come confidence and belief.
Sitting midfielders Whelan and Andrews (or Steven Reid) resolutely protect the back four allowing flair players like Duff and Keane to do their stuff going forward. While there has been criticism of Ireland's functional style of play, the mostly positive results have dampened that down.
While there are deep-rooted problems in Scottish football which may take decades to solve, the national team perhaps needs emergency surgery quick before it becomes a lost cause.
A manager of the stature of Trapattoni - names as big as Ottmar Hitzfeld , Guus Hiddink, or Terry Venables - may provide that much-needed boost.
Odds of 8/1 are being offered that the next Scotland boss will succeed in taking the country to the finals of the Euro 2012 and 2014 World Cup. In the wake of Saturday's depressing 3-0 defeat by Wales in Cardiff, the odds of 4/6 to fail to qualify for either is much better value.
While accepting that the disastrous reign of Berti Vogts will make the SFA nervous about going outside Britain again, desperate times require desperate measures.
Even in the current economic climate, it behoves the SFA to consider approaching a rich businessman, or even a consortium, to provide the funds to widen the search for a manager who could turn those odds on their head. The difficulty, of course, is finding such a benefactor but perhaps someone like Glasgow businessman Willie Haughey, who has already dipped in to his pocket to help sponsor the Scottish Cup, would be interested.
In these troubled times, it is an idea which must be worthy of discussion, certainly when the likely alternative is akin to shuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic.
Last updated: 18 November 2009, 15:26
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