BERMUDA's early exit from the Caribbean Digicel Cup last weekend was disappointing to say the least.

But perhaps even more disappointing was the criticism aimed at the Island's top professional striker Shaun Goater by local coaches who seem to have an awfully short memory.

If we're going to blame Shaun for putting club before country, then there's more than a few other players, American pro David Bascome included, who would have to be tarred with the same brush.

Goater decided not to travel to St. Vincent at the last minute because he believed he would be included in Saturday's starting eleven to play promotion rivals Wigan. In a season during which he has yet to start a single league match, it was an opportunity he believed he couldn't afford to miss.

Unfortunately, Reading boss Steve Coppell decided to leave Goater on the bench while 4,000 miles away Bermuda tumbled out of the Digicel Cup on a day when a striker of Shaun's calibre might have made all the difference.

But, excuse the pun, let's not make Shaun the scapegoat.

In the short build-up to this competition, since Kyle Lightbourne took over as coach, turn-out for training was pitifully poor.

Many of those who played a role in last spring's World Cup campaign showed little or no interest, although they were still turning out for their clubs.

Bascome, meanwhile, having also bemoaned his absence from the squad earlier this year, was given a chance to return only to cry off because of a lengthy injury list among his own Baltimore Blast team-mates.

If Shaun's to be criticised for putting country before club, then Bascome and all of those who refused to support Lightbourne's training programme are guilty of the same offence.

They might be judged as even more culpable given that national team training was right on their doorstep.

The very fact that Lightbourne had to call up a bunch of players who never got a look-in during the World Cup matches suggests we still have a serious problem in this country with national team commitment.

It may be that Goater could have done more to support the squad but to single him out, as some coaches did this week, was grossly unfair.

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IT WOULD appear as though last week's Friday Forum didn't sit at all well with some of our representatives in the Senate.

As they whinged and whined on Wednesday morning about what they believe has been an overdose of negative publicity in this newspaper - an absurd assessment which even they might have figured out had they actually taken time to read the paper - some also apparently took exception to what they perceived as negative comments last Friday about Government's recently released Sports Code of Conduct and Ethics.

It really does make one wonder if our appointed officials on the hill have the slightest understanding of freedom of speech or freedom of expression.

Of those sitting in the Senate, two of the most vocal on the ‘negative publicity' issue were former BFA president Neville Tyrrell and current BFA chief Larry Mussenden.

How ironic is that?

Just hours after the Senate adjourned, a drunken clown wandered onto the pitch at Somerset, threatening officials and punching players (see story above) and such was the lack of security nobody did a thing about it.

Not for the first time in the last year or so - let's not forget the debacle at Wellington Oval - a game has been spoiled by thugs who appear free to wander onto the pitch without fear of apprehension.

Perhaps our two footballing senators can find time to address the negative aspects of football next time they sit down in debate, rather than wasting breath rambling on about the media.

Indeed, instead of attempting to protect their own fragile egos, wouldn't many of our senators' time be better spent addressing the real concerns of the country?