as a foreigner to the vacant post would be the answer for soccer here.

Darrell, who cites lack of enthusiasm as the only reason for his resignation after five years, said that there was no evidence that a foreigner could motivate local players any better than a Bermudian.

The word motivation surfaced after Bermuda's 4-2 World Cup defeat in Canada when Darrell was criticised by Shawn Goater who is now back in England with his Second Division club Rotherham United. Goater said that he was no longer able to motivate the players.

However, Darrell chooses to avoid conflict over the remarks by Goater and is more keen to direct comments toward a statement made by Bermuda Football Association president Charlie Marshall who disclosed that four foreigners had so far applied for the position as Technical Director, which was first advertised last summer.

The consensus among many Bermudians after the national team's exit from the World Cup was also that a foreigner should be given a chance to take over the reins.

"I have played under each of the three foreign coaches we have had and to be honest they all were about to be asked to leave anyway. At some point Bermudians have a tendency to jump on whoever it is when things are not going as expected,'' said Darrell.

He noted that neither Englishmen Graham Adams, Allan Jones nor Bernd Fisher of Germany were great motivators and wondered who is to say that a fourth foreigner will be able to motivate the local players.

Darrell pointed out that Goater made his comments about motivation only after being asked by a TV reporter and he regarded it as a question that put the player on the spot.

"I think it was a very unfair question to put to him and Kentoine Jennings when we came from the last away match in Canada. What were they to say anyway,'' he asked.

Darrell defended his position and added: "I have never been any different all along and I don't know why suddenly it (motivation) has become a problem.

Motivation has never been a problem at all as far as I am concerned.

"When Graham Adams came here as coach it was something new to us players because he was the first foreigner and we all were enthusiastic, but the other two were no real motivators. The players back then accepted a lot more responsibility, you knew what was at stake when you were playing for your country. That was sufficient to motivate us,'' said Darrell.

Although there are a few in Bermuda who have the prestigious Full Badge certificate from the English Football Association, Darrell said that a Bermudian was still capable of taking on the vacant post. Darrell himself only recently received the certificate after taking the exams this summer.

Darrell is upset about the manner in which the BFA has handled the whole procedure of advertising for a Technical Director, indicating that it first came to his attention after reading it in the newspaper last summer.

"Somebody called me and told me about it in the paper and I was surprised.

The BFA had never told me about it,'' he said.

While he was willing to discuss the prospects of appointing a new coach, Darrell has decided not to point a finger at anyone. But he made it clear that his resignation had nothing to do with the remarks of Goater, any of the other players or the BFA.

"I just got to the stage where I was a little tired. I started to lose a little of the enthusiasm you need to get the job done properly. The players have been very supportive, the hardest thing with them initially was to get them out training. There wasn't a whole lot of interest at the beginning but once the games were confirmed, the commitment was given,'' he said.

"Being national coach is a very high-profile position and there is no way you can satisfy everybody. I am not going to end up doing what Shawn (Goater) did and offer criticism after our best ever performance. That will only be tarnishing what good the team has done. If there is something that has to be said I am going to say it to the people concerned and nobody else.'' In accepting Darrell's resignation this week, Marshall said that he hoped the former coach would continue to be involved in the national programme, but Darrell does not have immediate plans to do so.

"I definitely want to be involved in coaching but not right now. The BFA have been fairly decent to me. They have enabled me to get my full badge certificate, but there is still a lot of things going on that I don't want to comment.

"After being involved in soccer for 20 years without a break there is no question that the pressure from the World Cup competition has helped to drain me, so I'm looking forward to being completely out of soccer for the rest of the season at least.''.

LAST WIN -- Gary Darrell after the El Salvador game here with match-winner Kyle Lightbourne, Shawn Goater and David Bascome. Bermuda won 1-0 and then suffered three straight losses.