Gascoigne’s promise
Despite his talents, Paul Gascoigne certainly hasn’t had it easy, says Matt Rudd in The Sunday Times – with “the alcoholism, the obsessive compulsive disorder, the bulimia, the 50-a-day Red Bull addiction”, and so on. Behind it all, as his new memoir reveals, is a Gateshead childhood that “sounds bleak, bordering on Dickensian”. When he was 21, Alex Ferguson tried to sign him for Manchester United – only for a “well-timed bung” to his late father John to send him to Tottenham instead. His father had learnt that they were offering him £120,000, and told his son: “Well, get it signed then. And tell them I want a car as well.” Years later, John swiped a gold watch from his injured son’s hospital bedside; but Paul is remarkably…
