GASCOIGNE reveal he pleaded in vain with Sir
Alex to sign him
PAUL GASCOIGNE has revealed that he pleaded in
vain with Sir Alex Ferguson to sign him when he was at the height
of his fame.
Paul Gascoigne
had turned down Manchester United earlier in his career
and manager Ferguson’s later refusal was described by the former
England midfielder as the “massive regret” of his career.
He said: “I knew I wasn’t going there. You only mess
with Sir Alex once.”
Gascoigne, now four months sober in a new bid to
recover from his alcoholism, told the Daily Express how he called
Ferguson when he was leaving Lazio and asked for a move to Old
Trafford.
At the time he was the most famous player in Europe,
the biggest star in Terry Venables’ England team and followed by TV
cameras everywhere.
“I was fortunate to play under Terry Venables
[Tottenham and England], Bobby Robson [England] and Walter Smith
[Rangers],” said Gascoigne. “I didn’t get to work with Sir Alex
Ferguson and it’s a massive regret. I would have loved to have been
managed by him.”
Gascoigne rejected a move from Newcastle to Old
Trafford in 1988, instead signing for Venables at Tottenham for a
then British-record £2 million.
That snubbing of Ferguson in the early years of his
United regime proved costly.
After his knee injury in the 1991 FA Cup final an £8.5m
move to Lazio was put on hold.
He finally joined the Rome club a year later for £5.5m
but a series of injuries blighted his stay and by the summer of
1995, the Italians were willing to let him go.
At this point, he says, he phoned Ferguson. “He talked
to me but wouldn’t sign me,” said Gascoigne. “I asked him to but he
was deciding whether Eric Cantona was staying at the time. Cantona
stayed, so fair enough.
“But I just knew that I wasn’t going there, even if
Cantona had left. You only mess with Sir Alex once.
“I did once go to the training ground and he showed me
around and we had a chat. He is a great man. I am just glad he
forgave me eventually for not signing for United that first time,
but it took him six years to speak to me again.”
Gazza ended up at Rangers, where he enjoyed two
successful years before playing for Bryan Robson at Middlesbrough,
then his old Rangers boss, Smith, at Everton.
Last autumn he turned down the manager’s job at
non-League Garforth at a time he was about to go back into
treatment after a series of mishaps with alcohol at their root,
including a tragi-comic appearance at the Raoul Moat siege in
Rothbury and a drink-driving court case.
Gascoigne is currently in aftercare at the Providence
Project treatment centre in Bournemouth, having been through three
months of rehab.
Gascoigne agreed to speak to the Daily Express in
return for a donation to the centre.