Although the Bermuda Football Association haven’t made any disclosure about which direction they will turn in seeking a replacement for Kyle Lightbourne, who recently concluded his contract as national coach, one prominent football personality has full thrown his support behind the hiring of a foreign national as a replacement.

Gary Darrell, Bermuda’s most successful national coach ever, having taken the senior national team to the second qualifying round of the World Cup back in 1992 — where the islanders met Jamaica, Canada and El Salvador — reckons that the time is right to go overseas.

“Having now had several years of local coaches in the position I really do believe the time is right to go overseas again. But while doing so we must make certain that we know exactly what we want from the person we bring in, ensure that it is somebody who can implement various programmes that we can carry on with after his time is up instead of getting in a position of having to stop and start again,” said Darrell.

“We need some continuity in place so that we can build on what has been in place rather than starting from scratch. Once steps are in place it’s far easier to keep all of the programmes moving in a positive direction which will obviously benefit the sport of football here at all levels.”

The former coach though was unable to go too deep into his thoughts about what nationality the new coach should be or what his qualifications should be — because his views may conflict with the Bermuda Football Association for who he is still a representative on the technical committee.

Unlike many other locals who probably share the view that Bermudian coaches cannot get the best out of players they are too familiar with, Darrell would be willing to give a local similar chances but reckons that after a string of good local coaches the time was ideal for the BFA to look in a new direction.

“I don’t think a foreigner can inspire our players that much more, but to be honest we, for whatever reason, seem to give a foreigner more support, we ensure that he is working full-time when he is here and this hasn’t happened to a local except for Clyde Best.”

Speaking aside from the coaching aspect, Darrell viewed Bermuda’s involvement in the recent Digicel Cup as being a engagement that didn’t go that well primarily because of poor preparation which he too as a coach had become familiar with.

He noted that every coach would like to play competitive matches or compete in recognised competitions prior to entering such a event like the Digicel and reckoned it was unfortunate that Lightbourne didn’t get that break.

One problem Lightbourne and his players faced was the involvement of players in a competition like the Dudley Eve prior to Digicel, according to Darrell.

“I think it goes back to what we did some time ago. In hindsight I think the coaches would have preferred not to let our players play domestic football during that crucial period so that they would be fit and ready for Digicel which didn’t make it any easier with the Christmas festivities also to take into consideration.

“But I think Digicel is certainly a competition that we have a good chance of winning, but only if we can prepare properly. We know that it comes every two years and we should have it on our calendar right away and start to prepare like yesterday.”

Like others in the football fraternity Darrell was looking forward to Government’s forthcoming announcement regarding the financial package they have planned for the sport.

“It’s a good idea and certainly the sport has to ensure that it is used correctly. I would think it will have to be invested at the youth level and also to help to maintain the senior programme because you must still have a senior programme in place. It’s a good thing for football and the future of the sport with this sort of financial support that has been lacking.”

Let’s go overseas says Darrell