To an extent he looks in worse nick than Best ever did. Best's only real public embarrassment was a seedy appearance on Wogan. Pre camera phones he was never seen in a walking dead state half crying and slurring for some Bolivian Marching Powder. Also Best was not an unintelligent guy and never had to play the perpetual Peter Pan prankster role that Gazza failed to shake off his whole career. That said there's something inside both such men, some need that a sober life can never meet.Unfortunately it will be the same outcome as George Best
The only person capable of helping him is himself
Paul Gascoigne | Still living
- Thread starter esmufc07
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Probably what crackheads do for a fix. Better left to the imagination than discussed
He begged my little brother to get him gin or he wouldn't get out of my brothers taxi.
His witty remarks were as good as his football!
what about a fat Ronaldinho? a tricksier Figo or Nedved?
I tend to think Gazza was a bit overrated tbh.
I mean, Zidane ffs. Was a better ball carrier, had more tricks, was more difficult to dispossess, scored more goals & ran games more. Won loads more & played at his peak for much longer.
I tend to think Gazza was a bit overrated tbh.
I mean, Zidane ffs. Was a better ball carrier, had more tricks, was more difficult to dispossess, scored more goals & ran games more. Won loads more & played at his peak for much longer.
Sadly a way of hiding from his issues though.
I think Gazza does want to quit but just can’t whereas Best never really did want to get well.
From what I’ve read in the past, it’s obvious that gazza has some real mental health issues. I remember an interview with his friend where he said Gazza would become hysterically paraonid with anxiety at the end of every season at Newcastle saying how he would never play football again and would never get picked again ect when he was obviously the biggest talent at the club.
The drink and drugs were probably self medication which has barrelled into a much larger issue for him. As someone who has diagnosed anxiety issues, and has often been tempted with Drink and Drugs as a self coping mechanism, I have probably more sympathy with him than others. However, there is a real point where you have to want to help yourself, and the guy is probably stuck in a loop of reaching this point for a while and then going through a bad patch with his anxiety and then going back to drink and drugs.
The drink and drugs were probably self medication which has barrelled into a much larger issue for him. As someone who has diagnosed anxiety issues, and has often been tempted with Drink and Drugs as a self coping mechanism, I have probably more sympathy with him than others. However, there is a real point where you have to want to help yourself, and the guy is probably stuck in a loop of reaching this point for a while and then going through a bad patch with his anxiety and then going back to drink and drugs.
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I don't know why the onus always seems to be put onto the PFA.
90s football was one of the worst places for him to be, in that regard. He has been enabled at every turn by the fans, and to be honest there's no real surprise in that, but there was very little in place to support him in the way there is now at top clubs.
Ultimately, these are choices that he's making, but if you know nothing but football and are able to stay in that infantilised bubble your whole life, it's difficult if there isn't a support network to show him other ways to live and be. It's not the FA's responsibility, it's down to his own family and mental health services now.
Incredibly sad to see. Unquestionably the best Englishman i've seen playing in my lifetime. Was immense before his injury and still much better than most even post injury. I think unfortunately the company you keep is important. Palling around with the mates he did Gazza was always gonna struggle. If you’re a professional athlete you probably shouldn’t be best mates with a guy nicknamed Jimmy Five Bellies.
I would have agreed with you once, but addiction is something extremely difficult to fight.
I used to think if you wanted to stop enough you could.
I got a bad back injury and was on very strong medication for 2 months before the operation.
I still cringe at the memory of needle being inserted into my spine, and I screamed !!!
After the operation, I thought I could just stop, missed the bit where I was supposed to reduce the dose over a period of three months, just stopped the same day I thought I was fixed.
I had 2 weeks of hell, and at least 2 more weird and difficult weeks, now I understand that addiction is far more difficult to deal with than I realised.
My addiction, although a massive deal to me ( I did not realise I was addicted ) was probably minor compared to what Gazza and Best are/were involved in.
Will people posty anything just for likes or retewts, what an absolute scum bag. Our culture and socitey is going to shit.
The guys reaction to him asking for gear was “Ok, I’ll ask”
I mean maybe it was just an instinctual answer brought on by the weirdness and awkwardness of the situation, but still... and then to upload it
Awful video.
Poor gazza.
Poor gazza.
Some people have such a thirst for attention they will trample over anyone to get it.The guys reaction to him asking for gear was “Ok, I’ll ask”
I mean maybe it was just an instinctual answer brought on by the weirdness and awkwardness of the situation, but still... and then to upload it
Really sad to see this. He is my hero when I started watching football. Still remember his amazing freekick in 91 Fa Cup semi final vs Arsenal.
What a legend. Hope he can overcome his mental health issues and addiction problem to lead a more meaningful life.
What a legend. Hope he can overcome his mental health issues and addiction problem to lead a more meaningful life.
Gazza was living in a village next door to where I live last summer. At first I thought it was a ridiculous rumour but it turned out to be true. He was meant to be the guest speaker for a gentlemen’s dinner at a local hotel for the England v Panama game and they had to draft Steve Walsh in as back up. Low and behold Gazza turned up in such a state that he hung around and took a few photos and was ushered out the back door and Steve Walsh ending up being the after dinner speaker. A few lads I know had been in the pubs with him and said he was a sad state. Next thing he’s on Talk Sport talking about how he’s cleaned himself up and doing well. Total rubbish. He’s lucky to still be alive and sadly his early death seems inevitable. For someone of my age that remembers him at his best it’s very sad to see him end up like this.
Short of having someone "Mind" him 24 hours a day, I don't really know what you can do with him.
Are none of the hangers on like "Jimmy 5 Bellies" not around any more?
Are none of the hangers on like "Jimmy 5 Bellies" not around any more?
Somewhere in the universe, Andy Warhol is nodding in agreement.
Especially when he can't have even been a footballer for 15 years.
Why not on the other roles/job leading bodies he's had since?
Don't get me wrong, he's such a national legend he's a special case, and I'd like anyone who could to help him.
But it'd be like expecting your old workplace to help you decades after you'd left them?
I believe jimmy “five” bellies turned his life around and had to cut ties with Gazza for his own well being.
How fecked up do you have to be that Jimmy 5 Bellies is thinking "best distance myself from him."
The only shocking thing is the outcry from the public. There are men/women in every pub up and down the UK who do coke alot. It's almost like people are gobsmacked when an ex footballer does does everyone else does. Cocaine consumption is rife in the UK whether you are in small town Wales to cosmopolitan London.
I know he's had a history but I personally think he is in much better hands than 99% of people with similar addictions.
I know he's had a history but I personally think he is in much better hands than 99% of people with similar addictions.
That’s exactly what I thought when I saw this thread. I don’t do it myself but isn’t coke quite common these days? Probably a lot of hypocrites criticising Gazza on here.
Coke might be common but mainly people who do a few lines a week. Not chronic alcoholics that also do coke all day as well.
I may do it at times, I may not
. I work all over the UK and stay in hotels in all sorts of places and I genuinely could not believe how widespread it is. I've been to little villages in England, Wales, Scotland, you name it and have seen it being used by locals everywhere. It's crazy actually when you think of how much is being spent on it. The replies in thread would have you believe this is shocking when it is literally commonplace in British pub culture, not to mention gazzas history.
It’s not about people moralizing about the rights or wrongs of someone doing a little recreational coke. More people bemoaning a once national icon and a true footy legend , (now a raging alcoholic and looking at deaths door) asking someone on camera if he has any. He’s clearly a tortured soul in need of help but unwilling or unable to take it when offered. He’s an addict and it’s sad to see his decline due to addiction played out in the public eye is all.
People have compared him to George Best but George’s star burned a lot longer and shone a lot brighter throughout his life (despite his demons). He was a lot more lucid and corpus mentus than Gazza has been for years.
George Best was a witty man even late into his illness and a regular on Soccer Saturday for example. Gazza can’t even turn up for after dinner events without being smashed.
I maintain hugely fond memories of Gazza in his playing career (especially the early part) but I just wish each and every mention of him for these last 10 years or so hasn’t had me with my heart in my mouth fearing the worst.
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No one on here does coke. If you've ever read the matchday threads you'll know they're all on LSD.
He is so out of his fecking head he isn't aware of the camera and doesn't care. Yes, people do it all around the world, but they are in a state where they are able to make a phone call about it and go on with it.
Gazza's problem is that when he goes on a drinking (and additional) binge, he will go to the absolute extreme. After that he will try to clean himself, be ok and feck up all over again. And that circle never ends. The worst kind of addiction imo as those who drink every day mostly can function in some way.
In my early 20's I used to do it alot on the weekends, used to blow my weekly wage on a Saturday buying cocaine, then it got to a point where I had to go on the cheaper alternative, 14 grams a night was the norm.I may do it at times, I may not
I work all over the UK and stay in hotels in all sorts of places and I genuinely could not believe how widespread it is. I've been to little villages in England, Wales, Scotland, you name it and have seen it being used by locals everywhere. It's crazy actually when you think of how much is being spent on it. The replies in thread would have you believe this is shocking when it is literally commonplace in British pub culture, not to mention gazzas history.
At the peak of my addiction I realised I had to stop when I put drugs over food, I was/am a sufferer of anxiety and depression, and it was a great way to forget about everything until Monday came around, I may be a rare case but I stopped quite easily.
I do miss the high sometimes, but I know if I continued that way I'd be dead by now (probably the goal back then).
Gaz really needs to do it himself, there really is nothing anybody can do to stop someone from being an addict (making someone go cold Turkey isnt the answer either) and at 52 you have to wonder if that realisation is ever going to come for him.
Takes a special sort of cnut to film that and put it on social media.
Takes an even bigger one to beat his wife but people have been excusing that cnut for years.
Fourteen yeah!14?!? Like not 4, but 14?
Good to hear you alive mate.
Admittedly the weight went up and the quality went down, I wasnt really worried about the quality of the product at that point, like an idiot!
Yup, all good my friend! Thanks.
Whoever was selling you should probably go and buy him some present now.Admittedly the weight went up and the quality went down, I wasnt really worried about the quality of the product at that point, like an idiot!
Lost loads of weight. Did a half marathon or two I think.
From 21 to 13 stone. Ran to raise money for Bobby Robson cancer charity
Always thought he was responsible for leading Gaza astray.
But seems to have got his act together.
He's in prison, I think he can make better toilet wine than I can!Whoever was selling you should probably go and buy him some present now.
You just need some practice.He's in prison, I think he can make better toilet wine than I can!
Man, so sad...