Jul 28, 2001 02:51 PM
2167 Views
There was a time,not so long ago, when Paul Gascoigne was arguably the most exciting new talent in English football. This Geordie-he hails from the North East of England,where the people are called Geordies- when he first broke into pro-soccer seemed an absolutely incredible player. He was magical,he could do the unexpected, he had great technical ability and possessed a stunning sense of positional play. Sadly despite being hugely talented and beginning his career with such critical acclaim, Paul has not fulfilled his full potential and now sadly appears to be destined for the scrap
heap.
A number of theories have been advanced as to just what went wrong.Why did he go off the rails ? Some critics say he could not cope with the enormous media pressure.that he was undeniably subjected to. Still other famous soccer players had to put up with it ! Then there was his erratic drinking habits which soon led him to put on weight and must have harmed his fitness levels.Certainly in his latter years he clearly lacked pace. Then he has had domestic crisis after crisis,including court appearances for beating up his girlfriend, and despite being given a host of opportunities by a succession of managers, Paul,is but a shadow of his former self. In my view his demise is very sad. There have been players born with far less natural talent than the likeable Geordie but,through hard work and application, they have become very good players.It now begins to look very much as though Paul will go down as a ''might have been a great player''.