This is no time for RedBlacks' kickers to kick back and relax.

In fact, they need to kick it up a notch.

OK, we'll stop now.

As the RedBlacks prepare for their season opener on June 25 against the Montreal Alouettes on the road, Ottawa GM Marcel Desjardins didn't mince words Monday morning when he told reporters during a break in training camp he wasn't happy with the way the club's kicking game was shaping up.

After giving Delbert Alvarado the chance to do both jobs in Saturday's 26-9 loss to the Als Saturday night Quebec City, the RedBlacks switched gears and will likely carry two kickers to start the year. Alvarado will concentrate on kicking field goals while Anthony Alix will attempt to handle punting and kickoff duties.

Desjardins wasn't happy with Alvarado's performance in Quebec City.

"It wasn't very good," Desjardins said. "It was disappointing. It needs to be better. The guys have the ability and they show it during practice, and to an extent during the games, but sometimes for some guys the games might be a little too big for them and that wasn't even a big game. It makes you wonder."

And, Desjardins isn't alone on that front. That's why RedBlacks' management and coach Rick Campbell are hoping splitting duties will provide a much-needed solution. You'd think finding somebody to kick the ball wouldn't be that difficult but it has turned out that way for the RedBlacks.

By no means is this situation settled just because they're going to give two guys the chance to get it done. You get the sense the kicking game is fluid and it's something that could change in a New York minute if Desjardins and his staff see another opportunity come along during CFL cuts later this month.

"We're going to see (if splitting the duties) maybe helps both guys out a little bit," Desjardins said. "It's hard to find a guy who can do all three, which is your preference. We've had some guys here. It's not the most obvious thing to find by any stretch.

"You would want it to be a Canadian if you can and there's just not a lot of those guys out there and even when you look at south of the border how many guys are there professionally or collegiately that do all three? There's not a lot and we can't have two Americans handling it. We're trying to make it work as best we can. As I alluded to with respect to the talent, we're always looking."

Alvarado, an International player, understands he has to be better because what happened Saturday night wasn't acceptable when he shanked a punt and missed a 37-yard field goal. Those points will be valuable when the regular season begins and the RedBlacks can't afford to surrender any chances they get.

"It was just not a good performance," said Alvarado, one of the last ones off the field Monday. "Especially going into the game having the confidence of the coaches and them kind of giving me the go ... obviously, it wasn't what I was looking to do.

"As kickers, we've gotta have short memories. I look at it, I focus on the positives and (the fact) I hit some good balls. The 40-yarder (he made) was right how I wanted to hit it, I had some good punts, the kickoffs were good and got a tackle special teams.

"It's my sixth CFL pre-season game and I think I'm 11-for-12 with mid-to-low 40s on my punting average. I can't sit there and hang myself over one bad performance. You're going to have bad games, it's how you respond to it. My job is to continue to compete. The coaches believe in what I can do otherwise wouldn't have been in that position."

Alvarado said if splitting the duties works, then he's all for it.

"If you get the opportunity to get all three jobs definitely every kicker would want to do all three jobs," Alvarado said. "Definitely splitting the jobs up isn't going to hurt anything. That way I can specialize and make sure we get those three points guaranteed every time.

"(Alix) can focus on getting the ball to the sides and where we need it on the punt team. Overall, whatever is going to help this team at the end of the day be effective in the special teams area _ whether that's a combo of guys or one guy doing it all that's what we both need to strive for. If I need to be the field goal kicker and have a great year doing that I'm more than happy to step up and put this team in a good position to win."

The RedBlacks can only hope their kickers can get the job done.

CALL PLACED TO McCALLUM

The RedBlacks have touched base with Paul McCallum just in case.

The 45-year-old was sent packing by the British Columbia Lions last week and has maintained he still wants to kick, which is why Ottawa GM Marcel Desjardins placed a call to McCallum last week to gauge his level of interest.

Though McCallum is settled in the Vancouver area, and has a successful real estate business, the RedBlacks want to keep their options open, and he did complete 38-of-42 attempts with the Lions last season.

He posted on his Twitter account last week that he was told by the Lions he could either retire or get cut. The team said he left for personal reasons. It doesn’t sound like he was willing to make a commitment when Desjardins spoke to him, but the door seems like it has certainly been left open.

“He’s got a business (in the Vancouver area) and his family is there. Those are things that are important to him,” said Desjardins Monday. “We just said we’d keep the lines of communications open and if some point he’s willing to commit we’ll see where we’re at.

“I was hoping that I could say to him, ‘Look, we’re happy with what happened in the pre-season and we’re just going to stick to it.’ But right now, we’re just going to keep all of our options open.”

Desjardins said McCallum, who started his CFL career in 1993 with the Rough Riders, has declared he’s not ready to retire.

“He’s stated he wants to play again so it’s not something he’s shut the door on but it’s just not for right now,” added Desjardins.

Twitter: @sungarrioch