A day after Joe L. Brown's controversial sacking as BFA administrative assistant, local soccer was rocked with the news that Dandy Town's senior coach Robert Calderon has been reassigned -- demoted -- to the position of assistant and replaced by Mark Trott.

While the Western Stars executive have been ordered not to speak to the media The Royal Gazette learned that Calderon was actually given a notice of termination, but a compromise was reached -- albeit reluctantly -- when the players balked, refusing to play unless Calderon was reinstated.

Ironically, it was Trott, the former assistant who suggested that the club have Calderon remain on board in another capacity. Trott effectively rendered himself a figurehead and Calderon will continue to deal with tactics and call most of the shots.

It is understood that a personality clash with club hierarchy -- specifically president Randy Butler -- as well as the St. John's Road club's dire financial situation with regards to Calderon's salary may have prompted the move.

The latter issue is not surprising as former captain Voorhees Astwood, who has not played since returning from World Cup duty, is said to be holding out until an insurance matter between he and the club is sorted out.

Meanwhile, Calderon is known to have not received full payment for services rendered the previous year.

The final straw apparently came when Calderon travelled abroad at Christmas for a vacation and it was claimed that he had failed to notify the executive committee.

But still the move towards Trott is generally felt to be a questionable one with doubts regarding his lack of experience while Calderon, a former Bermuda national squad player, was thought of highly enough that national coach Gary Darrell saw fit to seek his professional advice during the World Cup campaign.

Originally brought in as a consultant midway through the 1990-91 season Calderon was formally appointed Town's coach the following season.

He guided the team to an FA Cup final berth in his first season when the team placed fifth in the league and had an overall record of 16-8-12.

It had been agreed on his taking over that there were certain `bad elements' that needed `weeding out' and this process may cause a few down years.

Kris Martin and brother Kurt fell into this category and became non-entities -- the latter has since resumed playing for the club.

The current campaign was entered with renewed hope on account of their delving in the transfer market and picking up a number of quality players. But these high hopes would be shattered with the commencement of the World Cup that robbed Town of four vital cogs.

They have struggled in the middle reaches of the standings, but recently appear to have possibly turned the corner now that the players in question are back at Calderon's disposal. They remain involved in all of the major cup competitions and are still within striking distance of league leaders Somerset.

The situation appears similar to that which Clevie Wade, fired by Hotels two weeks ago, went through, the only difference being that the players voicing displeasure at that move were simply ignored.

ROBERT CALDERON MARK TROTT