Paul Gascoigne has sent a message of support to Marcus Rashford after his night out in Belfast made the newspapers for the wrong reasons.
Firstly, I think we are now reaching the point where this subject is being blown out of proportion. There is very little to suggest that Rashford has the same problems as Gascoigne experienced throughout his life.
That is why I think it is a bit bizarre that Gascoigne has been asked to talk about the issue.
Gascoigne has sent a message to the 26-year-old after his night out in Belfast landed him a fine believed to be worth £650,000. The former England star has warned Rashford not to go down the same road as him as he struggled with booze.
The newspapers are laying into Rashford after his ’12-hour tequila-fuelled’ session in Northern Ireland.
Gazza told The Mirror: “I really like Marcus Rashford. He is my favourite England player. But you can tell things are just not right for him right now.
“I would say to him, ‘Don’t make the same mistakes as me.’ He may need the help of the players around him, the staff to bring him around. Sometimes there are problems outside the game. He is a great player, at a great club, playing for his country, and yet he doesn’t seem happy. Obviously there is an issue with the manager and he doesn’t even celebrate his goals in the same way. He is down, he is getting fined, like I was at Lazio, it is not easy being in the limelight.
“When I was at Spurs, I found it so hard that I went to see a counsellor once a week, to talk my problems through. As a man, it is sometimes hard to ask for help. Even footballers need it sometimes. Marcus is earning a fortune, at one of the biggest clubs in the world, everyone thinks you do not have a care in the world. But the pressure is not always easy.”
Gazza faced fines of his own as a player but he speaks about bouncing back, which is what Rashford did last night by scoring the opening goal against Wolves.
“I bounced back, and that is what Marcus has to do. What I have learned is, always think about the repercussions of your actions. If you are going to do something, like clubbing, I would say to Marcus, ‘Stop and think, ‘What if this comes out?’
“Because in the morning, everyone will know where you were. It happens when you are that famous. When I saw where Marcus was, in Belfast, I thought, ‘Last time I was out drinking like that, I ended up in rehab.’
“They are really great people over there. But there is no hiding place.”
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