LAST Friday the Royal Albert brought the curtain down on what has been the worst season in the club's history. And although the 1-0 defeat to Vale of Leithen saw the Hawick side turning in a decent performance, the end result was the same. Defeat.

And without a win to their name throughout the 2008-09 campaign, and coach 'Prof' Blaikie failing miserably to find a winning formula on the pitch, it was inevitable that there would once again be changes in the coaching set-up.

Out goes 'Prof', who has somewhat surprisingly been installed as the new Kelso United manager. The Tweedsiders choosing to ignore the latter's abysmal record at Hawick.

And in comes former Gala Fairydean manager Derek Hancock, who now has a massive job on his hands to revive the Albert's fortunes. But to his credit, he has already pledged to get Royalists playing good football and, more importantly in some people's eyes, to sign up local players to bolster a confidence-shot squad.

"There are some very good players in the town," said Hancock this week. That's true, but the difficulty has always been prizing them away from their Border Amateur League sides.

Just how Hancock aims to do this remains a moot point, and one which could make or break his bid to get the club moving in the right direction.