The news that Clyde Best is to lose his job as Bermuda's technical director of soccer -- a story broken by this newspaper on Christmas Eve -- raised a plethora of questions which remain unanswered.

Why is Best being axed when his contract expires next March? Are there plans for a successor? If so, who? Why was it necessary to get rid of the man paid to be at the helm of Bermuda soccer in the middle of a World Cup campaign which he has spent the past three years working towards? Why could Best not have been given a contract extension until the World Cup campaign was over? These are all questions which could and should be answered by Best's employers, the Bermuda Football Association -- and for the good of the sport, they need to be answered quickly.

But this newspaper has not even been given a chance to put them to the president of the BFA, Neville Tyrrell. Since the story broke, numerous messages have been left for Tyrrell, none of which have been returned.

Tyrrell, as the man at the top in the BFA, holds responsibility for the decision but apparently wishes to avoid public accountability.

When the BFA finally came out with a statement, last Wednesday, it skirted around the important issues.

Instead it focused on the use of the word `sacked' by some media -- and by most people discussing the matter on the street.

But the fact is, Best is to lose his job and with so many important repercussions for soccer in Bermuda, a pedantic argument over the use of a word seems irrelevant.

In short, the BFA's statement told the people of Bermuda nothing about why Best is to be axed and what happens next -- which leaves the football community to wonder.

As Best himself remarked, to dismiss a technical director in the middle of a World Cup campaign hardly seems like a sound football decision. If there was a basic problem with the way Best went about his job, should it not have been spotted and dealt with during the past two-and-a-half years? As it is, Best will still be supervising matters when Bermuda play their preliminary round qualifier against the British Virgin Islands in March -- with the knowledge that he will no longer be in charge should they get through.

The timing could not be more disruptive.

Robert Calderon and Mark Trott, coaches who have worked with Best on the national programme, appear perplexed by the decision, suggesting further that the decision was not football-based.

It is no secret that Best and Tyrrell did not get on, but a personality clash should not be a reason to terminate someone's employment.

On the field, Best appears to be making progress, especially when one considers that his first home game in charge as national coach, against Major League Soccer side Kansas City Wizards in April, 1997, was Bermuda's first international match on home soil for nearly five years.

Anyone with even a shallow knowledge of football would understand that Best, starting with a team of such limited international experience, taken almost entirely from an amateur league, would need time to progress.

Yet just two years later, the national team not only thrashed the Caymans and Bahamas and gave a strong Cuban side a run for their money in the Caribbean Cup, but also registered a remarkable 2-0 victory over the touring Denmark under-23 side, a soccer nation strong enough to reach the quarter-finals of the 1998 World Cup.

Best's connections in world soccer could not be matched by any other Bermudian. Next April's visit to West Ham United is a perfect example. Who else would have been able to fix up not only a friendly match with an English Premier League team at a crucial stage of their season, but also use of their training facilities? Some accuse Best of not having the relevant coaching qualifications for the job. But surely Best's experience counts for more than having taken a course.

As Brian Clough once remarked: "Coaching badges are for school teachers.'' Playing alongside Bobby Moore in England for a few years and during his spell in Holland, under Rinus Michels, the coaching mastermind responsible for the concept of `total football', might just have taught him a thing or two about the game.

If the BFA have got a good reason for getting rid of this man, Tyrrell should say what it is. On the face of it, the BFA seem to be making a huge mistake.

Maybe they are axeing the wrong man.

Do you think Clyde Best should stay or go? Write to the Sports Editor at the Royal Gazette, 2 Par-la Ville Road, Hamilton, Bermuda.