creating a professional league in Bermuda.

So says newly-installed Somerset coach Norbert Simons.

However, while advocating such a sweeping change, Trojans' head man noted there to be many variables in the equation, including the need for major attitude adjustment on the part of players.

"I think professionalism is a mindset and, while I'm in agreement that players should get paid, at the same time, when you start demanding pay there are other demands that come from the employer,'' said Simons.

"So, are we prepared to serve up the same attitudes and habits that we did prior to payment and still expect to be paid? We can't expect to be paid and not produce.

"So I feel it's time to take a long, hard look at becoming a professional league, but there's so many more things that have to be looked at before we go that road.'' However, with attendance numbers having dwindled over recent years with the influx of professional sports on television and the generally more varied local sporting scene, the question begs where finances would come from.

Sponsorship is one option, while clubs might also want to look at the marketing of sports apparel.

Yet the key, says Simons, remains the on-field product, one which has largely been viewed as mediocre at best.

"Players have got to understand that when they decide to play football for a club they are performers and you pay for what you get. ..they need to understand that,'' said Simons.

"At the beginning of the season -- and this is my personal view -- you can hear players say how they're not being paid, but they know that before they started. It's just about making a commitment and if all make a commitment -- coaches, as well as players and the Association -- at the beginning of the season to see a task done, then we should see it through to completion, and take personal satisfaction from that. Once we gain personal satisfaction, those around us will see that we're making an effort and will financially support it.''