Boulevard Blazers held an emergency meeting with Andrew Bascome last night in a desperate bid to keep their wantaway coach.

Bascome quit the club at the end of last week after a row over player commitment.

However Boulevard’s attempts to persuade Bascome to stay seemed destined to fail, with a source close to the coach saying he did not think ‘there was anything they could say or do to make him change his mind’.

The Boulevard coach stayed away from his side’s defeat at the hands of PHC on Sunday, after none of his players turned up for a scheduled Saturday morning training session.

It was the latest in a long line of snubs to the coach, which are believed to stretch back to pre-season.

“There has been a lack of commitment since before the season started,” said the source.

“Drew has had enough. They (the Boulevard team) keep saying they are commited, but saying that is easy, you have to show it, and they haven’t done that.”

Blazers have lost their last three games, to Devonshire Cougars and PHC in the Premier Division, and to Southampton Rangers in the Friendship Trophy.

Bascome was in the dug-out for the defeats against Cougars and Rangers, and those losses, along with the lack of attendance at training are believed to have been the final straw.

“He (Bascome) knew they would lose against Cougars and Rangers, he could see it,” said the source.

“They didn’t deserve to win, because they weren’t prepared as they didn’t train.”

And Bascome is believed to have been further angered by the actions of some Boulevard players, who don’t train for the club, but do go to National Academy training.

“It’s disrespectful,” said the source. “And it will change. They’ll get into the national team, and then the commitment to training will stop because they’ll think they have made it. You see it all the time with the cricketers, it’s the same thing.”

Boulevard though aren’t giving up hope of persuading Bascome to stay, at least until the end of the season. And striker Angelo Simmons yesterday made an impassioned plea for the coach to change his mind.

“I know we all want Andrew here,” said Simmons.

“Andrew’s a good man and a great coach who has helped us a lot in what we are trying to achieve.

“The best scenario would be for him to stay with us until the end of the season and then make a decision as to what he does next. Hopefully we can win a cup to send him off properly.”

The chances of Bascome staying however appear slim.

He is understood to be unwilling to continue risking his reputation on a side that don’t appear to want to work for success, and have shown little evidence that they can change their ways.