You cannot hesitate, keep both past this January, or get rid of both, though that last option does sound the most tempting. You have to choose now between the famous 49ers feuders: either the frustrating, struggling Smith or the maddening, meddling, double-talking Nolan.

Five, four, three . . . I keep Smith and jettison Nolan.

There, I didn't even need five seconds. No regrets, no lingering messiness. See how this is done, York family members?

I keep Smith because the 49ers have no other quarterback worth keeping and because, yes, Smith finally started acting like an NFL adult by firing off that lethal dissection of Nolan to the Mercury News' Dennis Georgatos this week.

(Oh, please laugh off the everything-is-fine propaganda released yesterday by the 49ers' public-relations staff and attributed to Nolan and Smith. Ridiculous.)

I keep Smith because the 49ers can't get rid of him without gigantic salary-cap consequences, because Smith is 23, and because I wouldn't trust Nolan to pick or coach the next quarterback.

I keep Smith mostly because his greatest moment as an independent player was exactly the thing that disqualified him forever from being Nolan's kind of drone/zombie/yes-man hack.

Of course, I'm not talking about any monumental play or victory, since those have been far and nearly invisible in Smith's short career. I'm talking about Smith telling Georgatos that Nolan has undermined him in the locker room and thoroughly botched the quarterback's comeback from a Grade III shoulder separation.

There's no way back from that. Smith and Nolan have been drifting apart for months now, but after those comments — and the deeper truths within them — Smith and Nolan must divorce. Actually, I've believed that for a month now.

I keep Smith because, for all the mistakes he has made, I believe he's less likely to repeat them than Nolan is to repeat his voluminous comedy of errors and insinuations.

I keep Smith because he has all the chance in the world to improve as a quarterback, and because Nolan has proved that he'll only get worse and worse as a coach and an insinuator.

Let's help 49ers management some more, because I do believe that the Yorks need it: Since the quarterback position is any NFL team's most important, what, exactly, has Nolan done to help that spot?

His first move was to use the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2005 on Smith after Smith wowed Nolan by eagerly hopping on one foot in some silly drill — an eagerness that Aaron Rodgers did not share.

But wait, in a KNBR interview yesterday, the Face of the Franchise said he was just "part of the group" that decided to take Smith. That's such a smarmy evasion that even I'm stunned. And I'm a veteran observer of sports smarminess.

It's obvious that Smith is most peeved by one of Nolan's weekly "accountability meetings," in which Nolan might have suggested to the team that Smith's shoulder difficulties and complaints were a sign of weak fortitude.

"I think it's one of the best things we do," Nolan said yesterday of the accountability sessions.

Gee, how great. Everybody's accountable! Except Nolan. Even if Nolan says he can be ripped in those meetings, who's going to step forward on any serious issue if Nolan can release any forward-stepper two seconds after the meeting?

Yes, Nolan is right, this is about accountability. The whole thing comes down to accountability, and Nolan has decided to make Smith accountable for the lowest-ranked offense in the league, for the 3-10 record, and for any problems in the building.

But Nolan was wrong to promote Jim Hostler to offensive coordinator, wrong to keep Trent Dilfer as the No.2 quarterback and wrong to assume in early October that Smith could swiftly return from his shoulder separation.

Nolan was wrong to let Smith continue playing through the injury, and wrong to openly and snidely proclaim that Smith was fully healthy; and Nolan was massively wrong to imply that Dilfer was wonderful because he's tougher than Smith.

Who's accountable for that?

Of course, Smith is not blameless. He chose to play, he played horrendously, and he wasn't very good even before his Sept. 30 injury. And complainers never come off as leaders.

But complainers who have an important point eventually can turn into leaders. I think this is a risky Smith moment, but a significant one.

By the way, yesterday, Nolan sounded like he was trying to cool things down. That, I'd guess, had to be on orders from Jed York, though let's see how long it lasts.

Nolan repeated how much he liked Smith and that Smith was smart and a winner. But he couldn't help several subtle shots, including this, when he was talking about this week's starter, Shaun Hill: "He's probably as instinctive a quarterback as I've been around in a long time," the coach said.

Maybe Nolan's insinuations are right. Maybe Smith is a soft player who will never be a good NFL quarterback. But he's the guy Nolan drafted, paid and coddled. Smith has acted in every way just like a Nolan Soldier.

Until he spoke from the heart and spoke the truth this week.

Now it's a choice: Nolan or Smith, and I don't think it's even worth five seconds.