Management could end in tears for fragile Gazza

It may have been something witnessed in the flesh, it may have been seen on television or it may just be a snippet of news once read in the papers.

But few can surely claim to not having at least one Paul Gascoigne incident etched on the memory.

For me, there are two. The first came in the Eighties when Gazza was first making his way in the game with Newcastle United.

Word had spread about this talented lad from the North East so my Dad wanted to go and see what all the fuss was about when Newcastle visited Bradford City.

Gazza didn't have a particularly good game that night, though his fame was such that a couple of home fans had brought along Mars bars that were duly thrown onto the pitch, where they were promptly bitten into by the midfielder.

My abiding memory of Gazza, however, came in Euro '96 when, again with my Dad beside me, I was sitting behind the goal at Wembley as he scored 'that' goal against Scotland.

I missed the soon-to-be infamous 'dentist's chair' celebration due to the pandemonium breaking out all around us in the lower tier but, even now, I get goosebumps when the footage is shown on television.

Such memories are why the country continues to look favourably on Gazza. They are also why I sincerely hope the report last weekend that he had agreed to become Garforth Town manager proves to be both premature and wide of the mark.

To recap, one of the Sunday tabloids claimed a deal had been struck between the 43-year-old and Garforth owner Simon Clifford over him taking over the reigns of the Northern Premier League club.

Understandably, the news caused something of a stir. But, since then, there has been nothing with enquiries by the Yorkshire Post to the club hierarchy having gone unanswered, while Gazza's representative in the North East told me late yesterday, 'There is no news'.

I sincerely hope that remains the case for the foreseeable future, as I genuinely believe that a return to management is not in Gazza's best interests – even if it is at a level where the demands and pressures of the job are not as acute as further up the football ladder.

By its very nature, managing a club is a stressful occupation with a run of defeats under his stewardship – and Garforth have won once in 10 league games this season – likely to open Gazza up to possible criticism, both from supporters and those watching with interest from further afield.

Add to that the inevitable media scrum that would follow – already, one national newspaper diary column has suggested that Garforth's players have been approached by unscrupulous tabloids looking for the inside track should Gazza be appointed – and it really would be an accident waiting to happen.

When the initial story broke, Garforth owner Clifford said: "Everyone loves Gazza but nobody does anything about it and I thought, 'Where is he going to end up if he doesn't get back into football?"

The sentiment is admirable, especially as the events of recent years have shown just what a gaping hole the end of Gazza's playing career has left in his life.

But it is still difficult to believe that the best way for Gazza to deal with his demons is by managing a football club, with all its accompanying stresses.