Each of their grand plans has its merits but Peter Donald, guardian of the tournament as secretary of the Scottish League, is having none of it.

In fact, with a dry sense of humour perfected over years of administration, Donald declared from his Hampden office - in a corridor between the SFA and the SPL - that, if there really is a determination within those two bodies to help Vogts, then perhaps they could adjust their own competitions accordingly.

The German has hardly had time to get his feet under his Ivory Tower desk as Scotland's new manager. But, after watching two matches last weekend and the Old Firm showdown at Ibrox tomorrow, he will be well aware why people are restless about the natives.

Donald sympathises, but not to the extent the CIS Insurance Cup will be railroaded into change and £5mil-lion per season of revenue for our clubs is jeopardised.

Burns, meanwhile, beat a path to Hampden last month for talks about his British Cup vision and returned south with the realisation that nothing will happen on that one for at least 18 months, if at all.

All of which should make interesting reading for Skovdahl who, last week, sought to embrace both projects and threw in another blueprint of his own.

'An all-Scottish League Cup would be ideal for youngsters to show what they can do and might convince some clubs they have to do something about home-grown talent,' said the Dane, whose record of playing Scots is better than most.

'And playing the English in later rounds looks exciting on paper. I would be all for that if we could guarantee young Scots getting to play Manchester United and Arsenal.

'But I doubt if their major clubs would be keen, so it would be better if it was all-Scottish or perhaps even an all Under-21 cup.'

Skovdahl's paymasters might have felt a little differently when Aberdeen reached the CIS Final in 2000 and Donald tried to let Vogts down gently.

'There would be challenges in trying to achieve that,' Donald said when asked about the all-tartan League Cup utopia.

'There were rules in place in various European leagues which restricted the number of nonnationals allowed to play, but those barriers had to come down.

'That would be difficult to achieve. Even if it was achievable legally, I'd have to question if it was attractive to the public.

'Imagine the publicity: 'Come along and see Celtic tonight - not appearing are Henrik Larsson, Lubomir Moravcik and Chris Sutton. Come and see Rangers tonight - not appearing are Lorenzo Amoruso and Ronald de Boer.'

'So, while there may be a potential benefit in giving an opportunity for young talent, I am not sure commercially that it is a more attractive proposition.

'If there were to be a general policy in Scotland to make these goals achievable, then why would it only apply to the League Cup? Why not the Scottish Cup or the SPL itself?

'A general policy of commitment to a growth of indigenous native talent would certainly see a turn-round in the development patterns we have seen.

'If there is that belief and there is a clamour for such a policy, then it shouldn't be applicable only to one tournament.

'The League Cup is worth over £5m per annum to the clubs here.

'I was speaking to Andy Gemmell of Airdrie only this week and he made the very point that the money they landed from a visit to Ibrox this season has been absolutely crucial to them.

'Ayr United have made the Final and the benefit they will accrue from it is enormous.'

The ideal of a Celtic v Man United League Cup Final is attractive but, having put to bed Vogts' vision, Donald confirmed there is a long road ahead before there is a marriage of convenience with the Football League.

English chief executive Burns has made public his ideal but, new to the job, there is a suspicion that he flew a kite to see how high it might go.

'He had no formal proposals,' said Donald. 'He was examining the possibilities of some form of involvement between Scottish and English clubs. He did not have a potential sponsor lined up or a TV deal. He was going through the process of what might be achievable. He acknowledged that it is not deliverable for next season.

'There is no natural connection between CIS and Worthington and, when Coca-Cola sponsored both tournaments, we did look at a one-off game climax but that never came to pass, either.

'I reported those discussions to our management committee and our view is that our interest lies in giving CIS value for their investment.

'If there is a proposal to come from his soundings and he does seem to have taken some from the SPL, then we are happy to consider anything.

'I'd be more convinced of the possibilities of success if he was to come to me and say English football is behind him in his idea.

'I don't think they are at that point yet and, remember, Man Utd coming to St Mirren is far more attractive to us than St Mirren going to Old Trafford is for them.'

For Wim Jansen, Dick Advocaat and Martin O'Neill, the Cup has been a marker for later success. Alex McLeish doubtless hopes it will be the same again and Gordon Dalziel is entitled to dream.