new full-time Director of Coaching in the near future, despite an apparent need to fill the post.

President Neville Tyrrell has made it clear that the BFA want to fill the void left by German Burkhard Ziese who was fired last year.

But he scoffed at suggestions his association were under pressure to make an appointment following the disappointing performance of Bermuda's under-17 team, who lost all three of their qualifying matches in last week's CONCACAF championships in Trinidad and Tobago.

"No, there's definitely no pressure for that reason,'' said Tyrrell.

The BFA have been without a Director of Coaching since Ziese was dismissed in January of 1995. He had been hired by the BFA in December, 1993, and his three-year contract was due to expire on December 31, this year.

The BFA's financial woes have been well documented with the last report showing a deficit of $129,275 at the end of last season.

Tyrrell admitted that lack of funding had slowed down any moves to appoint a replacement for Ziese.

"We have been considering bringing in a Technical Director of Coaching for some months now and that remains our plan. But everybody knows that we are under some financial constraints right now,'' he said.

"There is no deadline that we have set to appoint a person to the post, but as soon as we can get the financial constraints sorted out then we will be on our way.'' Tyrrell said he hoped an appointment might be made by the end of this year or some time early in the new year.

But while he said he believed the failure of the under-17 team had little to do with the calibre of Bermuda's coaches, outgoing BFA coaching committee chairman Johnny Nusum has already pointed to the dangers of placing too much responsibility on local volunteer coaches.

Nusum said it was vital to have a a Director of Coaching appointed soon, noting that at the national level Bermuda could no longer depend on volunteers.

"I think the guys we now have filling in as coaches at the national level will continue to help and play a valuable role, which is fine in itself. But we need somebody to oversee the whole programme opposed to people working in their spare time. This is something that should not be attempted to be done in a piecemeal fashion,'' said Nusum.

He also called for a Director of Coaching to be assigned to the schools where development programmes could be organised.

Nusum has said he wants to see national squads formed at all levels and affiliation with the Caribbean Football Union revived so that Bermuda could partake in more regional tournaments.