An uplifting win in Iceland after the disappointment of defeat by Macedonia in the opening game only a few days earlier seemed to have made such a question redundant.
Yet the fact Smith felt obliged to answer it at all was recognition that any f
ootball manager's future is reliant on results. All he can do is to hope his input, via team selection, formations, tactics, substitutions and so on, can lead to a favourable outcome.
To that end, following a no-scoring draw with Norway, the vast majority of the Tartan Army are now asking if the former Hearts boss got it badly wrong. The result leaves Burley's target of 17 points even to earn a play-off place looking distinctly improbable.
In times of adversity it is also part of a manager's job to put the best possible gloss on the situation, so Burley was left to mount a stout defence of the decisions he had made throughout a frustrating afternoon with questions aplenty thrown at him.
Why, for instance, start with only one forward in James McFadden? For all his talent, he was always going to struggle against the uncompromising, towering Norwegian central defensive partnership of Kjetil Waehler and Brede Hangeland.
Why, on watching McFadden, predictably, make little impact did Burley take so long to change formation? Then, having done so, why did he hand a debut to 30-year-old striker Chris Iwelumo rather than turn to Kris Boyd, who could boast a healthy return of seven goals in 15 matches for his country?
In answer to each Burley was resolute in his response, he'd got it right in each instance. His original formation was a continuation of that which had brought success in Reykjavik last month and was worth another try. When it was clear that wasn't working, he'd been more successful in reverting to a 4-4-2 with Iwelumo partnering Hibs Steven Fletcher up front.
Burley was right, of course, in that Scotland looked far more threatening and comfortable playing with two strikers, but the fact his side had Norway on the back foot from then on will forever be overshadowed by Iwelumo's inexplicable miss, the Wolves striker belying the fact he'd scored eight times for his club by somehow contriving to fire Gary Naysmith's cross wide when left with a gaping goal just four yards out.
It's a moment which will haunt Iwelumo for the rest of his career and beyond no matter what he might do in the future – it was his Peter Van Vossen, Harald Brattback and Hans Eskillson moment, all in one.
Insisting it didn't signal a premature end to Iwelumo's international career Burley said: "All strikers miss chances and 99 times out of 100 they score. While he was very disappointed he accepted responsibility, he kept winning headers, and bringing other players into play. I think he showed enough in the 35 minutes he was on that he can cope with international football."
Burley felt the introduction of Iwelumo and Steven Fletcher gave his side the balance which had been lacking in the first half, but again, that begged the question as to why he hadn't started the game with such a pairing, happy as he was to rely on their inexperience at this level when the going was obviously tougher than he'd anticipated. He said: "I wanted to give the players the opportunity to continue the momentum from Iceland where McFadden played up front himself with two wide players but it didn't work and that's why I changed it.
"Norway made it more difficult for us. They closed us down very quickly. Our aim was to get the ball down and pass it through the midfield, but they didn't give us any time while we did not pass it well enough.
"At times we were sloppy in possession and if you give the ball away you are not going to move up the pitch.
"We needed that balance and Iwelumo and Steven Fletcher gave us it. They gave decent players and lot of problems.
"We needed a lot of movement around Iwelumo and I know Fletcher has that. He is very talented, very clever and I felt the combination would be right and I felt when they came on they worked very well together."
He added: "We were going for it. We weren't saying to the lads to hang on for 0-0. There was a spell when we completely dominated the game and that was the time we needed to finish it off. If we score that goal then, I think, we take the three points. Unfortunately we did not."
It could have been worse for the Scots with the towering figure of John Carew carrying a threat every time he got the ball. The Norwegians, for all the home side had the outstanding chance of the game, forced more than a few openings with ex-Hearts goalkeeper Craig Gordon twice called upon to beat away powerful shots from the Aston Villa hitman.
Burley side-stepped the issue of Boyd by focusing on Iwelumo's strengths, but he awoke yesterday to find the Rangers star – who faces a similar difficulty at club level convincing Walter Smith he's worthy of a regular starting place, despite an outstanding goals record – announcing he's to quit the international scene as long as he is coach.
It's easy to understand Boyd's frustration – in Burley's six games in charge, which have yielded just four goals, the former Kilmarnock hitman has featured just twice as a substitute, while a player who'd never been in a Scotland squad before was preferred to him in such an important match.
Finding a regular goalscorer has, of course, been a thorny question for Burley's predecessors, with any success in recent years based more on resolute defending than scoring freely. So, the loss of someone like Boyd, whatever his faults, is something both the coach and the nation can't take lightly.
However, the over-riding concern now for Burley is that with just four points from three matches he simply has no margin for error over the remainder of the campaign, which continues in March with a trip to face Holland.
With six points from their opening two game, the Dutch are now even stronger favourites to top Group 9 and win automatic qualification. The worry for Burley is that this Hampden stalemate will give greater succour to rivals for the runners-up spot and a possible play-off place – both Norway and Macedonia have a game in hand, as do Holland.
He conceded: "It makes it more difficult but it is still possible. There's no doubt the away games are going to be important but we've been to Norway before and won. It was always going to be a tight group, anyone can beat anyone so it is going to be competitive all the way through.
"We are going to battle all the way but I still think there will be a few twists and turns.
"We'll remain focused and the lesson from this game is that when you are on top you have to finish teams off. If we could get a point over in Holland that would be great and we will look to get something from it."
However, it would appear the second matches against Norway in Oslo next August and Macedonia's visit to Hampden the following month could well hold the key.
The full article contains 1305 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
