head coaching duties at Somerset following the completion of this season, The Royal Gazette has learned.

Sources within the club have indicated that current coach Larry Hunt will step down following the current campaign, after four years at the helm.

However, Hunt and club secretary Reginald Pearman revealed little when contacted yesterday.

"No comment,'' said Hunt, who has guided the Trojans to league and Dudley Eve Trophy titles along with two Martonmere Cup championships during his tenure.

Pearman was similarly tight-lipped on the issue, saying: "I haven't been informed of anything.

"To my knowledge it hasn't been discussed by the executive and they make the decisions.'' What is clear, though, is that Brown has definite intentions of entering the coaching arena and the west-enders appear a perfect fit.

Moreover, Hunt initially took the job with the notion of guiding them for a few years until someone -- possibly Brown or another candidate -- could be groomed to assume those duties.

As a youngster, Brown was moulded in the vein of other Somerset greats such as George Brangman, Clyde Best and Randy Horton, moving through the junior ranks before ascending to the senior team.

For more than a decade, Brown stood as the cornerstone in defence, aptly nicknamed `Rock'.

But after suffering through an injury plagued 1992-93 and losing his starting spot, Brown shocked the soccer fraternity with news of his departure from the west in favour of newly-promoted Vasco.

Initially, the news of the transfer did not go down well with management and Trojans supporters, but whatever tensions that did exist have reportedly been eased, paving the way for a return.

"All that's been swept under the bridge,'' said Brown, who played in less than a handful of matches for Vasco, before packing it in.

"I wasn't in the shape I was supposed to be in to play football and rather than just hang around and hear it from the fans, I quit. Plus, the desire wasn't there to play anymore.

"I'm not playing anymore football ...I'm retired!'' Like Hunt and Pearman, he played things close to his chest regarding the coaching issue.

"All I would say is that I will be going into coaching,'' he said.

In other soccer news, former Bermuda national coach Gary Darrell was last night confirmed as the new coach of Southampton Rangers by sports committee chairman Randy Raynor.

Darrell replaces Kenny Burt, who resigned several weeks ago.

"What I like is that he is a fresh face and his football ability, coaching-wise, is such that he can relate to today's players and the game in terms of tactics,'' said Raynor.

"He has the ability to make us better and carry us further to reach a higher standard.'' Still to be worked out are the terms of the contract in regard to its length.

Raynor also extended his and the club's gratitude to caretaker coach Wendell Simmons, a former assistant to Burt.

Raynor said that he understood the difficulty for Simmons in being overlooked, but that the club had to move on and there was nothing preventing him being considered in the future.

A training session and meeting has been called for today (6 p.m.) to have players meet their new leader.

North Village and Vasco begin one of their most critical weeks of the season tonight (9.

00) when they battle in the Friendship Trophy at PHC Stadium.

The Red Devils are fresh off their biggest win of the season -- a 6-0 thrashing of St. David's on Sunday -- which enabled them to move two points clear in the league race.

For the next five days they will switch their attention to the cup competitions as tonight's clash with Vasco will be followed by an FA Cup quarter-final clash on Sunday with Boulevard, which will make or break their hopes of the triple crown.

While current form gives them the edge over Vasco, Village will not take their opponents lightly, expecially after their morale-boosting win over Devonshire Colts on Sunday.

In their previous meeting this season, Vasco beat Village 1-0 in October. But Vasco's fortunes have changed significantly since then, resulting in the dismissal of coach Danny Seymour in the midst of a bad patch that saw them lose four out of five matches.

Vasco's hopes of success now rest in the cups, which could be boosted or shattered in the next few days as they will also take on St. George's in the FA Cup on Sunday.

Tonight's 7.00 opener sees Wolves and BAA clashing for the second time in nine days in the Second Division Shield competition. The two meetings between the teams so far have produced a total of nine goals, with the Greens winning the season-opener 4-0 and Wolves getting revenge with a 3-2 win recently.

DENNIS BROWN -- Pictured near the end of his playing days in a Vasco uniform.