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Troubled Gazza's Mate Pays Tribute
A former team-mate of Paul Gascoigne paid tribute to "a great lad" on Monday after the football legend was treated in hospital following an incident at a luxury hotel.
Police were called to a four-star hotel in Knightsbridge, west London, at around 3.15pm on Sunday.Former Newcastle defender John Anderson, who played alongside Gascoigne at St James' Park, sent his sympathy to the ex-England star.
"He's a great lad and it's a shame that everything you read about him is all detrimental and against him," he said.
"He's the type of lad who would do anything for you. He hasn't got a bad bone in his body. Of course you wish him all the best."
The football legend has struggled for some time with alcoholism and depression, and was detained under the Mental Health Act in February after police were called to a Newcastle hotel following reports he was acting erratically.
Gascoigne, 40, was released after two weeks of treatment.
Anderson said Gascoigne had gone astray when he did not have his sport to occupy him.
"I remember him as a boy coming through the ranks here at Newcastle, and he was just a smashing lad.
"All he ever wanted to do was play football and he was at his happiest when he was on a football pitch.
"Once he got out of the environment of the football club, that's when all his problems started."
He added: "We all know he has got problems and we wish him all the best because he was a great, great player, a great lad, and you do hope he comes through it.
"It's not going to be easy for him, but you wish him the best and our prayers are with him."
Earlier, the Daily Mail reported that he had been behaving in a drunk and unpredictable manner on Sunday.
The newspaper quoted an unnamed hotel source as saying eight policemen were called to the incident.
"There were police everywhere and I couldn't believe this was all just for one man," the source told the newspaper.
"From what I gather his behaviour was unpredictable and the back-up was just to be on the safe side."
A spokeswoman for Scotland Yard confirmed officers were called to a hotel in the SW1 area of London on Sunday afternoon, and that a man had gone to hospital voluntarily.
No crime was alleged, she added, so the matter was no longer one for the police.
Copyright (c) 2008 Press Association
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