Another week, another job in England linked to St Johnstone manager Derek McInnes.

This week it’s the Nottingham Forest hotseat – currently still occupied by fellow Scot Billy Davies – that McInnes is said to be the “top target” along with former Newcastle boss Chris Hughton according to Sunday’s News of the World.

Davies, the former Motherwell manager, is at the centre of a high-profile spat with chairman Nigel Doughty, and it is felt his position could soon become untenable.

This comes hot on the heels of McInnes holding talks with Brentford last month, and previously being linked with West Brom and Burnley.

The constant speculation surrounding Del’s future raises a lot of questions for the short-term future of our club. Is it unsettling him and the players? Is he going to leave us at a key time of the year, for example right in the middle of the upcoming pre-season? And if he does go, who is next into our manager’s office?

I don’t have answers to any of these questions – but they are a massive concern.

First off, I’m not sure I buy into this Notts Forest speculation (although I’m prepared to be proved wrong). Davies is still in a job. He could resolve his differences with his chairman.

And even if he does go, are the Forest fans going to be happy with a relative unknown in McInnes (compared to Hughton, who has already won the Championship down there, who is the alleged other top option).

However, if Del is to go down south this would probably an ideal place for him to go from Saints’ point of view. He would be taking a high-profile job, we’d probably get a hefty chunk of compensation and everyone would no doubt walk away from the job happy.

It would probably happen pretty quickly as well – meaning we’d be able to get a new boss into McDiarmid Park in time for pre-season.

Even if the City Ground isn’t Del’s next port of call, there’s no doubt at all that he will continue to be linked with just about any English job that comes up – particularly if we go on a decent run at the start of next term.

The nightmare scenario would be someone swooping right on the eve of the 2011/12 season. Del’s signings so far look promising, and I’m hopeful he’ll mould a team that can have us challenging for the top six next term. But where will we be left if he is taken weeks or days before we start next term? Big problem.

Right now we just have to push on towards pre-season, and hope to build on two relatively successful SPL campaigns. I think we know McInnes – assuming he continues to avoid a relegation dogfight – is going to be a target, and it must only be a matter of time before he is poached for a bigger job.