Scotland has produced some of the best managers football has ever seen with the likes of Sir Matt Busby, Sir Alex Ferguson, Jock Stein and Bill Shankly rightly regarded as sporting gods.
However, for the mere mortals from this country attempting to ply their trade at present-day clubs, the game can prove to be a cruel business and the roll call of Scottish bosses currently “resting” is an alarming one.
No less than three former national team managers are looking for work in the shape of Craig Levein, George Burley and Alex McLeish.
Scottish Cup-winning boss Peter Houston is without a club since leaving Dundee United in January, as are the likes of John McGlynn, Jim McIntyre, Barry Smith, Jimmy Calderwood, Billy Reid, Gus MacPherson, Ian McCall, John Collins and Gary Bollan.
Down south, Paul Sturrock, Steve Kean and John Hughes are on the hunt for new clubs.
The worry for those listed, especially for the ones no longer in the first flush of youth, is that increasingly, football management is becoming a young man’s game.
More and more clubs are following what could be termed the St Johnstone recipe for success.
Former Saints chairman Geoff Brown took what many felt was a gamble when he appointed the unproven 39-year-old Owen Coyle as boss in 2005.
However, the former Bolton and United striker turned out to be a big success and eventually earned himself a move to England with Burnley and then Bolton.
Brown repeated the pattern when he appointed Derek McInnes as Coyle’s successor in 2007 with the former Rangers midfielder fulfilling a player/manager role.
McInnes secured promotion to the SPL for St Johnstone and was consistently linked with a whole host of jobs down south before being lured to Bristol City.
His spell at the English Championship club was not a successful one but his reputation remained untarnished and he is now back in Scotland in charge at Aberdeen.
When McInnes finally made the decision to leave McDiarmid, Brown and his successor as chairman, son Steve, were inundated with applications but once again they ignored the tried and trusted and instead opted for former Manchester City and West Ham midfielder Steve Lomas, another with negligible managerial experience.
His appointment has also paid off with Lomas leading Saints to successive top six finishes and into Europe twice.
Not surprisingly, he is now the young hot-shot boss consistently linked with vacant jobs down south, with Millwall just the latest.
The St Johnstone model seems to have become the blueprint for success appoint a young, hungry manager who has recently given up playing and has a host of contacts in the game.
Look no further than Neil Lennon at Celtic, Gary Locke (Hearts), Jackie McNamara (Dundee United), Alan Archibald (Partick Thistle), Grant Holt (Falkirk), Alex Neil (Hamilton), Colin Cameron (Cowdenbeath), Grant Murray (Raith), Ian Murray (Dumbarton), Paul Sheerin (Arbroath) and Paul Hartley (Alloa).
Yes, there are still some “veterans” around like Jim Jefferies, Billy Brown and Dick Campbell but the signs are that like the dinosaurs, they are in danger of becoming extinct.
Tellingly, while Lomas was installed as a firm favourite to take over at the Den, the former Scotland coaching duo of Levein and Houston were quoted at 150/1 and 300/1 respectively.
It looks like it really will be against the odds when those two and others like them finally make their way back into management.