George's Colts football programme is in disarray.

And the club should be held accountable for the problems, says David (Goat) Brangman, who was one of the candidates for the still vacant coaching position.

The community was expecting great things from the team after last season when they finished third in the league -- their highest First Division finish since 1969 -- and won their first major cup, the Friendship Trophy in April.

However, things started to go wrong after the season ended when last year's player-coach Herbie Bascome voiced some concerns about his contract not being honoured by the club, and some of the key players applied for transfers, including Bascome himself.

In the end three players, goalkeeper Troy Hall, striker Ricky Hill and winger Gregg Foggo moved on to new clubs while Bascome, Marlon Outerbridge and Quinton Francis all stayed.

"I just confirmed last week that I wouldn't be coach,'' Bascome said.

"But I don't want to be known as a quitter. The last thing I want to do is not look forward to this season.

"If the contract had been settled there wouldn't have been a problem. They never followed through with the contract and that's the reason why I'm not coaching today.'' Bascome said he even provided training gear for the team out of his own pocket.

"I'm pretty sure that's why the players left, because they didn't feel they were going to get a coach as committed as I was,'' said Bascome.

When Bascome's contract problems surfaced, Brangman offered his services, but had to wait over a month before hearing from the club. It wasn't until the week of Cup Match, without having spoken to the club about financial terms, that Brangman was announced as the coach.

After meeting with a club official three weeks ago, Brangman put forward his demands -- which were taken back to the club's executives and not accepted.

"They decided in a meeting I was their man...without even talking to me,'' said Brangman.

Brangman was then surprised to read in yesterday's Royal Gazette that he was still linked with the job. He feels the club gave priority to Cup Match instead of the football team.

"Cup Match shouldn't have had priority especially when Cup Match was in Somerset,'' said Brangman.

"The club needs to be held accountable for what's going on.'' Speculation has also linked Neil Paynter, coach two seasons ago when the team qualified for the Martonmere Cup, with the job but he is concentrating on his role as a player.

Two others reportedly interested in the coaching position are Earl Basden and former referee Richard Knight.

In addition to being without a coach, the team is also trying to find a replacement goalkeeper for Hall while strikers Clay Smith and Dean Minors are not likely to play this season because of their involvement with the national cricket team.

Brangman believes that had the club appointed a coach before the transfer deadline, the coach might have been able to persuade the two to stay.

"Any coach who would have gotten the job would have given that their priority,'' said Brangman, whose involvement with the club as a player goes back 30 years. In 1983 he took the coaching job on an interim basis after Roddy Burchall quit.

With the new season just weeks away the team is struggling to get numbers out to training sessions.

On Wednesday just four players showed up to train while others observed from a distance.

"They are in trouble even before the season kicks off,'' Brangman said.