While lowly Prospect may have derailed plans for the double, Hotels have much to look forward to as they go about the business of finishing the current campaign before starting work on the next.

Virtually pushed out of the door at North Village following a disappointing 1994-95 season, Robert Calderon, after a taking a break from the frantic demands of a head coach returned refreshed, recharged and with definite goals as to what he wanted to do.

And after spending much of last summer moulding a team from scratch into one resembling the image he wanted, the veteran coach and former national team player can look back with a degree of fulfilment.

In only their first season back, Hotels clinched the Second Division championship with two games to spare and reached the semi-finals of both the FA Cup and Shield competitions, despite being forced to reshuffle line-ups throughout the year for various reasons.

"I think I'm very pleased with the fact that we're there. It's been a lengthy season, a really long season, we've had a lot of injuries and some suspensions which have left us short on a lot of occasions,'' said Calderon, who was able to lure several First Division calibre players without offering cash incentives.

"When those things happen and you're still able to achieve your goal it makes it satisfying.

"The key really has been that we do have a reasonably mature team that is physically tough. We have some goalscorers in our team and defensively we've been pretty organised. You put those things together (and) for the most part you're not going to lose that often, that is a fact.'' Heading into the final week of league play Hotels hold a remarkable 12-3-0 record.

However, Calderon knew from the beginning that, while he may have had job security, earning a place in the top flight was the only way he could be assured of retaining the services of players with First Division capabilities, most of whom forfeited positions on contending teams.

Chris Sabir, Wayne Augustus, Dennis Robinson, Diallo Sharrieff, Clifford Roberts, to name a few, were some of those that subjugated egos to take on the challenge of being a part of a team built from nothing.

"I think it would have been promotion or possibly bust,'' admitted Calderon.

"It would have been difficult to put five or six of those players back in the Second Division for another year.

"We were focused and a number of players wanted to play for the club because they saw an opportunity to play for a team that they could help mould and it gave them an additional incentive to want to go up.'' Now having achieved the stated goal the focus changes to one of being competitive whilst remaining among the upper echelon.

Calderon conceded that he would need a few more players to fortify the established nucleus.

At 39, Ricky Hill can no longer be relied on to carry the burden up front, while the coach noted that he would like to add another midfielder and possibly another defender to the mix.

One thing he certainly will not change is their 3-5-2 style using wing-backs and basically three central defenders, which some have criticised as overly defensive, but which Calderon says works, and not only at Hotels.

"We won't change our style, I believe in it. There are people that want to find fault with anything they can't understand,'' he said, chuckling.

"It's been very successful for Liverpool. It's been very successful for a lot of clubs. The national squad are using it. Jamaica use it. United States use it. It's only foreign in Bermuda and it's amazing when I talk to people and they look at the system and say `What are you doing, it's crazy' and I have to tell you that the most complete game played in Bermuda was when we beat El Salvador in the World Cup and we played 3-5-2.

"Burkhard Ziese played 3-5-2 and people seem to forget that. That Under-23 team was a very successful team.

"Gussie scored our goal against Wolves and he's the full back. We scored 41 goals in the Second Division playing a defensive system, at least in people's minds, yet we've only given up maybe 10 or 12.

"Yes, sometimes it doesn't work, but that's like anything. I believe in it because the fields in Bermuda have no recovery zone and most teams in Bermuda don't know how to play a flat back four. More and more teams are playing double strikers, therefore somebody's got to mark them. They bring full backs inside and leave wide areas exposed. They have midfield players that don't track. I don't believe in that. I feel that you must have your defensive area strong and work hard to get forward. That won't change. I don't have to...it's my team.'' No one will accuse Calderon of being bashful, quiet, demure or modest. He leans more toward a tyrant having the need for full control, which is what perhaps hampered his efforts at Village, a committee based organisation.

At Hotels the red tape is eliminated, allowing him to implement what he feels is needed and discard anything unwanted -- including players -- and it is this which he feels has greatly aided his return to the sidelines .

"The personal thing is not really going from the Second Division, it really is peace of mind.

"I'm an animated coach and when I'm on the sidelines I say what I want to say and there are no crazy things that take place after the game. We have responsible guys, you have a responsible president in Andrew Starling, who I expect would say to me if he saw something going wrong that he suspected something and would like to know what's going on. That to me is gratifying.'' ROBERT CALDERON -- `I think it would have been promotion or possibly bust'.