Poor Gazza, it’s tragic to watch Paul Gascoigne self destruct before our eyes but its proving impossible to help him, numerous spells in rehab and even sectioning have failed to slow his downward spiral.
At this rate he will be dead within a year, at least that is the opinion of a friend who spent a day with him this week, he started boozing at 11 am and by midnight had reportedly drunk 40 bottles of Stella Artois. Such is his state of mind that he believes he can get back into the England squad for the World cup finals in South Africa next year.
Gascoigne‘s problems seemed to have started when he retired from football he could not cope with the “civilian “ world, football has a discipline that he obviously cannot live without.
From a young age he has been guided by a code of behaviour rising at a certain time fed a certain diet and had his day mapped out for him, combined with the physical effort of training, culminating in the adulation of thousands at the weekend chanting his name and singing his praises as they marvelled at his skills.
Women parties and more money than he could cope with all these things were in abundance, but when he left the game the hangers on vanished, add to that an unstable personal life, by now he had married and divorced acrimoniously and was fighting a bitter court battle over a settlement. A combination of all these added to the most important factor, which was no guiding influence, since his early years Paul had always had someone to map out his day and weeks suddenly he was alone.
He coped by hiding behind a false facade built on booze and drugs, he has tried to get help but each time he has slipped back, this latest episode seems to be connected to the death of his “second” father Bobby Robson who died from cancer in July this year, combined with the sad news that his mother has cancer.
I don’t see a good ending here its almost like he does not care if he lives or dies, this draws parallels with George Best who drunk himself into a premature grave, I hope Gascoigne can be saved but my expectations are not high, I would think that unless something dramatic happens this could be his Last chance.
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