IF George Burley does get the nod for Scotland, the question of who Saints would turn to has caused much debate in the past 48 hours.

First, the names of former Saints bosses Glenn Hoddle and Dave Jones were reported to be on a contingency list drawn up by the club.

Then the name of former Derby boss Billy Davies was added to that list, although all three (and their representatives) had nothing to say on the subject.

And, today, there are fresh reports that Saints have sounded out a prospective new boss in the event of Burley's sudden departure.

Saints would not comment on the hypothetical scenario but chairman Leon Crouch was very clear when giving permission for Burley to talk to the SFA that he hopes he won't go.

As for Davies, he is on record as being interested in the vacant Republic of Ireland post, having spoken with the three-man FAI committee of Don Givens, Don Howe and Ray Houghton last Thursday.

A week earlier, Davies had ruled himself out of the running for the Scotland job, and he explained: "The SFA appointed an U21 manager before the national job was filled, suggesting to me that the new manager wouldn't have any input at lower levels.

"That's not how I see the job so I respectfully withdrew my name from consideration.

"People might say he's not willing to speak to the SFA but he speaks to Ireland' but the Irish don't know anything about me, so I could understand them wanting to speak to me face to face.

"SFA chief executive Gordon Smith and everybody else in Scotland knows me."

Jones is currently in charge at Cardiff while Hoddle has been out of management since leaving Wolves in 2006.