Scotland's football supporters have been asked to display a limitless amount of patience down the years. The Tartan Army shelled out humungous amounts of cash to watch their heroes depart for Argentina in 1978 - and thousands of them lined the streets to the city's airport, en route to a World Cup campaign, which contained the good, bad and ugly in disproportionate amount - and, long after Ally MacLeod's men had given up the ghost, the supporters clung to the idea of believing in miracles.
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SFA chief Gordon Smith (L) and SFA president George Peat: The men who backed Burley
But, finally, the foot soldiers have had enough. They have sat through sufficient displays of under-achievement to recognise that change is no longer advisable, but a necessity. And, although the media will rightly focus on the departure of George Burley, following an ill-starred reign of three victories in 14 matches, the anger which exists throughout Scottish football extends far beyond the hapless antics of Burley, who always exuded the impression of being the wrong man in the wrong place at the wrong time.
In short, the repercussions from Burley's tenure and the cack-handed fashion in which his employers have ended his tenure mean that there is no point in planning for the future without dealing with the past; logically, unemotionally.
Time, surely, for George Peat, the hapless president of the governing body, to fall on his sword, given his utterly inadequate response to events, both before, during and after the employment and protracted sacking of Burley. Time, also, for Gordon Smith, the perma-tanned chief executive of the SFA, to accept responsibility for his involvement in a screw-up of monumental proportions, whether in the aftermath of the lamentable "Boozegate" fiasco, or his complicity in allowing Burley to cling on to power, when it was patently obvious that he should have departed at the climax of a World Cup qualification effort, where the least the SFA's finest should have been striving for was a place in the play-offs.
After all, when the Scots were drawn in the same section as the Netherlands, Macedonia, Norway and Iceland, the fans, quite rightly, surmised that the latter trio were eminently beatable. This was no "Group of Death", more a kiss of life for a Glasgow-based gerontocracy. But, oblivious to that perspective, the SFA and Burley stumbled from one self-inflicted crisis to another, painstakingly eradicating the progress which had been made under Walter Smith and Alex McLeish.
It hardly needs adding that the manager's ability to turn any minor kerfuffle into a full-scale diplomatic incident was a testimony to his inability to comprehend the dynamics of dressing-room politics. Yes, he might have been justified in banishing Kris Boyd once the Rangers striker had stated his refusal to continue playing for his country after suffering an alleged snub. And yes, he was probably entitled to blow a gasket at the antics of Barry Ferguson and Allan McGregor, although one wonders where Burley was, while the Rangers duo were drinking to excess at the Cameron House Hotel. But, in the end, leadership demands co-existence and concessions and there was no sense of that throughout his 22-month stint.
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George Burley: It all went so wrong
The pressing concern now has to lie in signing a replacement with the requisite abilities to steer the Scots back into FIFA's elite nations. It won't be an easy task and the scale of the problem can be summed up in one simple question: Who wants the job? Graeme Souness has quickly ruled himself out of contention, while there is no prospect of Sir Alex Ferguson, David Moyes or even Owen Coyle risking their reputations by grasping on to a poisoned chalice.
I spoke to one, well-regarded English-based manager and his reply was unequivocal. "Why would I want the hassle? We don't have the players, the SFA are a bunch of wasters and nobody in their right mind would want to spend only two or three weeks a year with Scotland. Why would I bother wasting my time?"
These are questions which demand urgent answers from the governing body. In Scotland, football remains an integral part of the social fabric and the reports of Burley's imminent demise featured on Monday's front and back pages of the country's leading newspapers.
The SFA is insisting that it doesn't have to appoint a replacement before 2010, but even here, it betrays how out of touch it is with the prevailing mood. They have failed, both in terms of making the job a tempting prospect for the world's best, and in persuading the best Scottish coaches that they have the professionalism to lure a Alex Ferguson or David Moyes, let alone a Craig Levein, Billy Davies or Mark McGhee. Yet, things aren't that bad.
After all, Scotland's under-21s are packed with talent and ambition and there is greater potential amongst the under-18s than for the last 20 years. With the right support network and encouragement, the present mess could be turned around fairly quickly. But who, in the right minds, wants to dig for diamonds with Peat at the surface?
