Gambian football lovers are still waiting to know who will lead the Scorpions in their bid for a place at the 2010 World Cup finals, to be hosted in South Africa, and Africa Nations Cup finals in Angola in the same year.

Since the departure of Spanish coach, Jose Martenez, The Gambia Football Association is yet to name a potential replacement that will guide the Scorpions to the qualifier competition which is set to commence in less than two months.

The Gambia government, through the department of state for Youth and Sports, has recently succeeded in hiring the services of two Italian coaches (one of them a goalkeeper trainer), and the other one has been assigned to take charge of the Under - 20 team.

In the meantime, pundits and fans have resorted to speculation and rumours, and one tale doing the rounds was for a swift return of a local coach to take charge of the Scorpions.

Observer Sports has learnt of the appointment of Peter Bonu Johnson as the caretaker coach for the team, although the former Under 20 coach and Scorpions is yet to embark on any preparatory campaign ahead of the their qualifiers that will start late next month with an away tie to Liberia.

Sources close to the department of state for Youth and Sports have it that the sports department can only provide, but does not identify national team coaches.

“We don’t identify coaches for the national teams. This is the duty of the Football Association. We are only providers, and before we can do the provision, the Football Association must write to us”, the source revealed.

When contacted yesterday by Observer Sports, the technical chairman of The Gambia Football Association, Musa Njie, revealed that a coach is yet to be identified, but was quick to add that it will be done soon.

“We are yet to identify a coach for the Scorpions, but the process is at an advance stage. And as soon as we complete the process, the press and the public will be informed accordingly,” he said.

Asked whether there was any possibility for a local coach to bounce back considering the short period at hand, Njie said: “I don’t know yet. That’s left to the Football Association. All I know is that the prospective coach must sign a contract and that’s why the process is taking some time,” he said.