Last-chance saloon for poor Gazza

What a sad spectacle it was to see Paul Gascoigne once again battling his demons this week.

The hugely talented but fatally flawed football hero has fallen off the wagon spectacularly.

He’s just 47, but looks decades older and it’s hard to compare these latest photos of him looking ill and dishevelled with when he was in his prime.

I have interviewed Gazza many times over the years and seen him grow frailer and more fragile. The last time he came into the studio, he was like a little old man and looked lost.

I’ve also spoken to his ex-wife Cheryl, who was infamously beaten up by Gazza, but has also tried to help him.

He has vowed time and time again to quit drinking and has been in and out of rehab, but sadly it looks as though he is in trouble once again. His friends have repeatedly paid for his treatment and tried to help him stay sober, but there is only so much concerned loved ones can do.

Sadly, Gazza has had a lot of drinks in the last-chance saloon. It’s tragic he was seen this week stumbling to a shop near his home to buy gin and cigarettes. People were so worried by the state he was in that they called for an ambulance and he was taken to hospital.

This latest crisis comes as a shock because it happened just after it was announced that Gazza was returning to football to play for an amateur team in Bournemouth. I thought he must be making a good recovery and maintaining his sobriety if he was fit and well enough to play footie again.

Looking at these pictures, there is no way he would even be able to lace up his football boots, never mind actually get on the pitch and play.

There is, however, a lifeline for Gazza. QPR boss Harry Redknapp has offered him a job at his club which would involve training the youth team. Harry has even offered to pick him up every morning and drive him to the training ground himself if it will ensure Gazza stays sober.

This could he his final chance to get back on the straight and narrow and Gazza is lucky to have friends who genuinely want to help him. I really do hope this is a blip and that somehow Gazza can get back on the wagon by accepting the QPR job and finding the strength to finally quit boozing.

There’s still so much goodwill for the former England and Rangers player and no one wants to see this self-destruction.