George Burley was sacked yesterday as manager of Scotland — a summary execution by the Scottish Football Association after the diabolical 3-0 defeat at the hands of Wales in Cardiff on Saturday.

The SFA released a terse statement at 5.30pm last night announcing that Burley had gone. His two assistants, Terry Butcher and Paul Hegarty — the latter hardly in the door in his role — have also been axed.

There is fevered speculation on who might take over, though that is also rather dampened by the fact that, across Scotland, there is a recognition that no outstanding candidate is available. The early favourites for the job include Craig Levein, the Dundee United manager, Walter Smith, of Rangers, and even Jim Jefferies, of Kilmarnock.

If Burley was a victim of a shocking capitulation against John Toshack’s young side on Saturday, his “previous” also failed to help him to survive yesterday’s purge. In total he won just three out of 14 games with Scotland and failed to grab a play-off spot in the World Cup qualifiers that concluded in September.

Two months ago, just when the SFA was about to pull the trigger, Burley’s team showed a sudden spurt in form against Macedonia and Holland in their final group matches, and he was granted a second chance. But after the defeat by Japan last month, Scotland’s display in Cardiff on Saturday all but buried Burley.

Gordon Smith, the SFA chief executive, said last night: “It is with regret that we announce George Burley’s departure. We now have four months until our next scheduled match, against the Czech Republic, and will therefore utilise the intervening period to ensure we attract the best possible replacement to take Scotland forward.

“The [SFA] board was in unanimous agreement. It should be stressed that the decision was not a direct consequence of Saturday’s unacceptable 3-0 defeat to Wales but, rather, a realisation that the expectations of the supporters, the Scottish FA and George himself were not being met.”

Smith went on to defend the SFA’s decision to stick with Burley after the World Cup qualifying failure. “The Scottish FA stands by its decision to give the national coach our full support despite failure to qualify for the World Cup play-offs,” he said. “It would have been negligent not to have given George every opportunity to rebuild and revitalise the squad in light of the improved performances in the last two qualifiers against Macedonia and Holland.

“Unfortunately, the adverse results in the two subsequent friendly matches against Japan and Wales provided confirmation that the improvement could not be sustained.”

Finding Burley’s successor may prove to be a more arduous than glamorous task for the SFA hierarchy. The truth is, there appears no captivating name who can take the job, never mind those others who would not touch it with a barge-pole.

Graeme Souness, in distancing himself from the position yesterday, is one of a number who believe that there is now something of a poisoned chalice about a Hampden job that was once viewed as one of the more attractive in international football. “I wouldn’t apply for it,” Souness said. “I don’t want the job, and I wouldn’t want the job. You could have Arsène Wenger or Sir Alex Ferguson managing that group of players, but the outcome wouldn’t be much different.

“In the current climate, Scotland simply don’t have the quality. As a Scottish manager you can’t go out and buy players. You’re working with a group of players that the country has produced at that particular time.”

The search will now commence for Scotland’s fourth manager in five years. Levein, who has vastly improved Dundee United in his three years on Tayside, is a strong candidate, being relatively young at 45 but with a decade of management behind him.

The Tannadice manager, however, does have an uneasy relationship with Gordon Smith, which has resulted in one or two public spats between the pair over the past three years.

Walter Smith, a previous Scotland manager, whose Rangers contract expires in January, will also be viewed as a candidate, though his present circumstances are highly complicated.

Rangers are in financial meltdown and thus far cannot find a buyer after Sir David Murray put the club up for sale, though they hope to persuade Smith to stay on.

A surprising candidate who began to emerge as a favourite last night was Jefferies, who has done sterling work at Kilmarnock for eight years, without provoking rapturous headlines.

The 58-year-old is time-served over 25 years with Gala Fairydean, Berwick Rangers, Falkirk, Heart of Midlothian, Bradford City and Kilmarnock, and has built up reserves of both knowledge and respect in the Scottish game.

Gary McAllister, Gordon Strachan, who has just taken over the managerial post at Middlesbrough, and Craig Brown, another former Scotland manager, were also being mentioned in dispatches last night.