these days.

For someone who started the season without any involvement in local soccer, Darrell -- the person most responsible for Bermuda's historic World Cup odyssey to the first round last year -- currently has two First Division clubs eager for his services, Vasco and Southampton Rangers.

Vasco have already let it be known that they intend to approach Darrell to fill the post vacated by Danvers Seymour after he was fired in November.

Southampton, meantime, have to replace Kenny Burt, who last week resigned because of work commitments and personal reasons.

Southampton Rangers president Wayne Raynor yesterday confirmed that his club were in the process of replacing Burt, but he was unwilling to give any more details related to the search.

When approached yesterday about the vacancy, Darrell did confirm that there was some communication between himself and the club.

"Yes, we have been in contact, but I cannot say much more at this stage.'' Assistant coach Wendell Simmons would appear to be the most likely candidate to move into the position at Southampton, but his availability remains uncertain. Because of this the club may be forced to look elsewhere.

Simmons, however, is in charge on a temporary basis.

"He is holding the fort for us right now,'' Raynor said of Simmons. "We are reviewing the coaching situation with the hope of confirming things as soon as possible.'' The president did reveal that the club was concerned about its lowly ninth position status in the tables with just one victory and four draws in nine outings to date, but he admitted that there was still time to pull themselves clear of relegation.

Although Vasco officials expressed interest in Darrell following the firing of Seymour, no formal approach has yet been made to the former national team coach and the post at Vasco is still vacant.

Darrell admitted yesterday that other than what he has read in the press, no contact has been made with Vasco about the coaching position in recent weeks.

Vasco, however, did make an attempt to lure Darrell to their ranks during the summer which would have amounted to a major shake-up, with Seymour being replaced before the season even kicked off. But Darrell was apparently not prepared to accept the post at the time.

The Southampton position could be more attractive to Darrell, who has indicated that one of his priorities if he was to return to coaching would be to join a club which had their own facilities and a decent junior programme.

Southampton appear to fit the bill.

In addition to the changes at Vasco and Southampton, there has been at least one other change of command, with Lloyd Telford resigning at Somerset Eagles.

WANTED MAN -- The ball is now in Gary Darrell's court as the one-time national team coach, shown here last year, is being courted by at least two teams with coaching vacancies, Vasco and Southampton Rangers.