76 November 2020 FourFourTwo
As a rival coach who faced the Gascoigne
roadshow while in charge of Vauxhall Motors,
Owen Brown bucked the trend by writing in
his pre-game programme notes what a fillip
his foe’s involvement in non-league could be.
It earned him a special visit.
“Before the match, there was a knock on
the door,” reveals Brown, who now works as
a football advisor for Rafa Benitez, Phil Foden
and others. “One of the young players said,
‘Gazza’s there for you – he’s asked if he can
have a word’. I didn’t usually interact with
managers, but Gazza simply wanted to thank
me for what I’d written in the programme.
He said everywhere they went, everyone was
hating them or against them, and he filled
up. I know he gets upset quite easily and is
a pretty emotional character, but he said it
was nice that someone was being supportive
of what he was trying to do.”
Visits to opposition dressing rooms became
part of Gascoigne’s shtick, particularly in the
early weeks of his reign. After the 4-1 victory
against Stalybridge, he interrupted the Celts’
ear-bashing to present their manager, John
Reed, with a massive glass of whiskey, then
brightened the mood by using the showers.
In his suit.
“It was incredible – he was nearly soaked,”
Reed tells FFT. “After he gave me the glass of
whiskey, he put his arm around me and all
the lads were going in the showers. He kept
repeating himself saying, ‘Go on bonnie lad,
it’s only a game’, and then walked over.
“He was flipping wet through – his trousers
were absolutely drenched. He was talking to
the lads and they were there, mouths open
and couldn’t believe it. He was properly drunk
and I don’t think he realised he was in there
getting wet. He just didn’t give a damn and
was cracking jokes. Three of the players even
got his autograph.”
Although Reed ranks his brush with Gazza
among the highlights of a managerial career
spanning more than four decades at clubs
such as Harrogate and Buxton, his opposite
number’s erractic behaviour started to raise
eyebrows elsewhere. One Conference North
boss recalls him “not acting like a football
manager” after arriving at an away match
15 minutes before kick-off and quietly sitting
in the stands throughout.
Unbeknown to Gascoigne, he was earning
detractors in Kettering’s boardroom as well.
After several disappointing results including
abject defeats to Redditch and Barrow – and
just hours before he switched on Kettering’s
Christmas lights alongside Scooby Doo and
Wicky Bear – Ladak pulled the trigger on his
celebrity manager. Gazza had been in the job
for a paltry 39 days.
DOCTOR WHO?
The announcement came as a shock to many
connected with the club, as the messaging
to both players and fans before Gascoigne’s
axing had centred on Kettering’s long-term
vision. Previous boss Wilson was immediately
reinstalled as gaffer, and Gazza was left out
in the cold. The Poppies’ stunned supporters
felt similar, too.
“I was driving and heard it breaking live on
national radio that Gazza had been sacked,”
remembers Singh. “I was so surprised and it
threw me. You don’t bring in a big name like
Gazza and then get rid of him.
“Personally, I wasn’t uncomfortable about
what was or wasn’t going on. For me, I wasn’t
bothered if we lost a game or didn’t play well,
or heard a rumour of this or that. The hardest
thing was getting Gazza to join Kettering, and
the easiest was to keep him. No one has the
God-given right to win football matches. We
weren’t doing that well, but we thought the
club had to give him time.”
Rather than pointing at the results, Ladak
claimed Gascoigne’s drinking was the main
reason he had been dismissed following “37
separate incidents that were alcohol-related”
since his appointment, then added he had
“been under the influence before, during and
after several first-team games and training
sessions”. Gazza denied it.
One incident Gascoigne did speak about at
the time was the impact that George Best’s
passing had on him just a few weeks into the
job. In 39 Days of Gazza, the book written by
former local sports editor Steve Pitts, Best’s
death is credited as one of the main reasons
for Gascoigne’s downfall. Pitts recounts how
the Italia 90 hero was set off by a harrowingnewspaper spread with Best on his deathbed,
under a headline reading, ‘Don’t Die Like Me’.
Gascoigne saw it as a message to him from
his good friend, forcing the problems he had
been facing into the public eye.
As Pitts explains, “When George Best died,
I went to a press conference with Gazza – he
was clearly drunk, incoherent and distressed.
It was hard to talk to him, and he kept saying
about his great mate George. That day was
the most excruciating of my 35-year career.“GAZZA WOULD DO AnYTHInG FOR
US, BUT UnFORTUnATELY WE ALSO
SAW THE OTHER SIDE OF IT: THE
ILLnESS OF BEInG An ALCOHOLIC”
KETTERIn G
TOWn