Bermuda national soccer coach Mark Trott feels he can get a positive response from the often lethargic crop of local senior players when it comes time to organise a squad.

Speaking at length regarding his new posting as the Island's top coach, Trott noted that he had already been in touch with potential recruits and received favourable feedback.

He added that, without the demands of a club coaching job this year, he had been able to scout several teams and already had a pool of some 25 names in hand.

"I've had the advantage of being able to see a lot of soccer this season and a lot of different teams in both divisions and in putting together a pool I was able to initially identify a group of some 45 players, which would be too big, so I broke it down further to about half that,'' explained Trott, an assistant to Robert Calderon during last year's ill-fated World Cup campaign.

"I've spoken to every player on the phone or personally and they all, unbelievably, want to be involved ... even those who in the past three years or so have not made themselves available.

"What I also found was that there was an average age of around 25, and many of them I had already coached in the past on national and club level, which is good because I've always been able to command those guys' respect.'' Trott's referral was to the fact that he had tutored many of the players during his tenure as head coach of the Under-23 team that qualified for the Pan-American Games. He has also been closely involved with several during tenures as coach of the Under-15 and Under-17 sides.

However, while youth squads have generally shown enthusiasm to training and preparation when called up for international duty, the same cannot always be said of the seniors. Such apathy was highlighted in advance of the last World Cup when some sessions drew barely a half dozen players.

Calderon was also hampered by the fact that several of those invited refused to attend, citing family and work commitments, although many were believed to have declined due to abhorrence or fear of drug testing requirements.

The new coach, though, is confident in his ability to attract the top players.

"They know what it will take to be involved with respect to commitment, the anti-drug policy and all of that stuff,'' said the ever optimistic Trott. "I was pleasantly surprised with the positive feedback and the public will be pleasantly surprised when they see the names of the first training squad.

"We will have an influx of new talent, which I feel offers much to players in that they can see that there is something to strive for.'' As for what he will do once he gets players in session, Trott noted his philosophy to be a basic one revolving around the total team concept.

Style and formations will emerge depending on the capabilities of the pool of talent, although he admitted to having been influenced by the grace and style of the Brazilians and defensive efficiency espoused by the Italians.

Nevertheless, whatever style is adopted will take time to develop, he added.

"My philosophy is based 100 percent on the concept that there is no `I' in team, everyone achieves more when we play for each other,'' said Trott, who possesses the BFA `B' Licence and CONCACAF Level `A' coaching certification.

"No one comes with egos. If you have them, throw them out the door, or you will be helped to throw them out the door. There will be no messing around.

"I would like to see the team play an attractive, passing game, which will require a lot of movement off the ball, a lot of support. We need to take advantage of the strengths of our players. Our players are very skillful and we need to harness that, while the other asset is that our guys are extremely fast, with many having track speed.

"We in Bermuda must play like Bermudians. Our players can play a short passing game, possession game, and it can be exciting. But it must be organised and the most important quality, where I think we fall down, is our defensive organisation.

"If we can get that right and then allow players to be expressive I think we can develop our own style unique to Bermuda, encompassing what we might see in Brazil, Holland and Italy.

"Because while I love Brazil and their style of expressive play, I also an avid fan of the way the Italians play defensively. So we may need to take a mixture of both to get the desired result, and then we just encompass that in a formation that is conducive to us.

"I believe it is an approach that can work, but will take some time to develop.'' Mark Trott: Will demand total commitment from his players.