I'd steer clear mate, I think it could be pretty one sided and definitely upsetting. We all know the guy is not well I'm not sure he needs a TV programme showing the channel 4 audience his and his families dirty laundry
I'd rather remember Italia '90, Tottenhams Cup run in '91, up to the semi, Euro '96 and the forgotten contribution he made to our qualifacation for France '98 - He was superb in those games, however after that fell in with the wrong crowd again and Hoddle was right to leave him out of the finals. Hang your heads in shame Baker and Evans.
Gazza only has himself and his dysfunctional family to blame for his problems.
I have an uncle who is an alcoholic and his biggest problem is that he always blames someone else for his drinking and never takes responsibility for his own life.
Similarly, just like Gazza he is always asking for one last chance and for people to bail him out of trouble.
The only person who can really help an addict is themselves.
Gazza's situation is very sad but he has had 1000 times more opportunities in life than most people will ever have and has pissed them all up the wall.
Nearly finished now, pretty poor documentary to be honest. Very repetitive, family on phone to Gazza who hangs up, see articles in the press, on phone to gazza, etc. At the end they have decided to stop helping him.
Before this I watched the wrestler film, which was also depressing (but brilliant) so I need a pick me up right now!
edit: my fav memory of him was his hatrick against Aberdeen!
[/cite]George Best only had himself and his dysfunctional family to blame for his problems.
George was always asking for one last chance and for people to bail him out of trouble.
The only person who can really help an addict is themselves.
George's situation was and is very sad but he had 1000 times more opportunities in life than most people will ever have and pissed them all up the wall.[/quote]
- I just finished Mr Best's Autobiography
Take your point about the repetitiveness of the the terminal alcy's story in the media Dazzler. But it's no reason to withdraw your compassion? I remember seeing George Best in the early '90's in the Manchester pubs. Didn't ever talk to him but watched him. I thought he just looked incredibly lonely.
listen we all know addicts can only help themselves.
the fact that this scumbag family have made a bloody documentary about a leged like Gazza just to stick ther knife in even more and probably make his recovery even harder just rankles.
That effing thing who calls herself his daughter , which she isn't, and uses the great mans name to get herself places loves nothing better than digging him out as well
I know he is not perfect and probably was a nightmare to live with but he needs help and support as well from his so called family not effing doumenttaries.
I don't think it will be long before we have news flashes saying they have found Gazza dead somewhere and I for one will be gutted/ But then we'll be put through seeing this lot standing their with crocodile tears making out their gutted he's gone when all they will be gutted about is the fact they have lost their cash cow.
by the way I never watched it - wife asked if I wanted it sky +'ed but no way would I dare give that progrmme the time of day
Could not bring myself to watch it as I thought it would be just too depressing, I have to watch us and that is bad enough without watching the self destruction of a one time icon of English sport.
i watched it and i found their sincerity disturbing i didnt see why you want to do that to someone you are allegedly trying to help.
you are a money grabbing bunch of mercenerary b's (still no swearing)
I will Add that the only one who was in need of sympathy Is Regan that is his dad that he is watching self distruct, he hates football he hates drinking and he hates his Dad poor kid
Shame on you Gazza for doing that to your Only child.
Shame on that bitch the "counseller" for making a few quid and pee pee poor acting she should be struck off it was like watching a 16 year old girl running after her boyfriend after a drunking fight in a pub in that bit in portugal
the ending showed you what that was all about with the other boy saying i have moved on
I watched it and had mixed feelings about the whole thing.
On one hand, there was part of me thinking that some of the family were probably enjoying their time in the limelight. On the other, the eldest boy in particular seemed genuine in his concern, while you couldn't help but feeling very sorry for Regan.
Gazza himself was obviously willing to be involved at the start - although it is very debatable as to how informed this was given his problems - so it would seem unfair to say it was all the work of the family.
Having been involved in TV filming projects in the past, I know that a lot of the 'reality' gets lost in the editing process, and ultimately you will end up with the programme that the makers, and the channel broadcasting it, want.
I would also agree, though, that the introduction of the counsellor, and the jaunt to Portugal, left you questionning the motives of all concerned.
Agree very much with the last para of All Left Foot, the councillor woman was awful, but find it impossible how anyone can not feel sympathy for all the family. If they really wanted to cash in / do a hatchet job they could have done at any stage during the last ten years, and haven't.
The only one i don't feel any sympathy for is Gazza. He is an individual that has only ever been interested in himself, and just because he was talented at football, why should that make you look better at someone who was a wife beater before he'd even got his addiction problems ?
As for Ledge's point about the girl living off his name, he has been her dad since she was 3, was the one who raised her, and has never seen her real dad. I think sometimes we just look at excuses to throw muck at people for the sake of it.
I happened to see his wife and kids interviewed on morning TV by Fern Britton and Phil Whassname (yes i know i've got too much time on my hands) Sheryl was asked 'why make this documentary' To which she said 'she hoped it would help people understand what Gazza and the family were going through' She also made a point of saying 'it was nothing to do with money'
Now i have to confess, in the past i've been scathing of Sheryl for deserting Paul Gascoigne. Having seen the programme, i was wrong. It's simply impossible to live with a man in the state that Gazza is in. He needs to be put into secure residence somewhere before, as a previous poster said, he's found dead in the gutter.
A tragic waste of a once brilliant footballer!
Didn't watch the show but did read an interview with Sheryl in the Sunday Times. Given that Gazza was beating her up even before she was married and that he had a "refuelling" problem, as Graham Taylor called it in 1993, very early in his career I think that he would have been in this state regardless of fortune and fame.
Telling that she always calls him Paul saying that "Gazza" is a different person ie the person that he thinks other people want him to be.
According to Sheryl it was Gazza who asked the family to take part in the TV show he had already agreed to. Personally I think that as Allleftfoot said these shows have a per-set story line and will be shoe horned into it regardless. They are exploitative of weak and sick people like Gascoigne.
Hope she can move on and get on with her life and that he realises that he is the problem and needs to do something about it.
I think you're wrong about Bianca AFKA. She's been trading off her famous step father's name all her life but too quick to throw the muck at him when things went wrong. She hadnt spoken to him for a few years before she went on the questionable Celebrity Love Island - how did she get on there? because she was his step daugheter - even tho they were estranged and she had said she hated him previously - in fact said lots of things about him.
They then reconciled when paul was sectioned last year but obviously not on good terms now.
I didnt watch it. I was impressed that Cheryl Gascoigne attempted to help him last yer and thought she was geunine but now after making a telly programme about a seriously ill man im not so. Even if he had agreed to it.. no one can say he was in his right mind when he agreed it.
I think that after watching it, its not as easy to make assumptions about peoples personalities. bianca was quieter and withdrawn than you'd think she'd be, although her brother did ask if she was going for the right reasons to portugal or just for a holiday, although she was shocked at the suggestions, but when she was with the (evil) counsellor talking to her, it showed that it did get to her, but that she tries to block it out.
I found it really hard to watch when watching sheryl with the wedding video and also when she spoke to the counsellor. She obviously loved him and thought she could help, but she can't, but imagine the guilt that you've given up on helping someone then they deteriorate.
Regan hardly known him, not seen him at his peak in the football world, or been involved at an old enough age with the travels of being a footballer. He's a very intelligent kid, that said what he felt about his family, and how he is guilty that he doesn't care, and he should, but then he questions why he should when his dad doesn't care. when he said how he called gazza and he didnt know who he was, that was heartbreaking.
I found it awful when they walked away from him in portugal, and Mason walked off - all absolutely devestated at what had happened, but imagine if he is found dead in a months time, they'll feel so guilty they didn't do more, and the counsellor will be able to say "oh well, you've got your own life". Not saying that they should continue to help him, but how hard must that have been?
I didn't think it was a ploy to make money, or humiliate gazza at all, I think everyone should sympathise with the lot of them, his illness, and their helplessness. It certainly made me think a lot about it.
Agree with all that Suzi. I read this elsewhere, which is a lot more articulate than me and i think makes some excellent points:
It was extremely sad to see the old clips of Paul circa the early to later 1990s. Yes, even back in those seemingly happier days for him, you could see things weren't right mentally and his personality at best could be described as haphazard and generally chaotic, but playing football and being involved in the general camaraderie and laddish banter of the game appeared to give him a reason for living that he clearly no longer has any more. In particular, watching the present day Gascoigne being filmed making forlorn faces into mirrors and preparing for a night’s sleep inside a plastic tent in the garden didn't make easy viewing.
His stepchildren appeared to still want to care about him, but came over to me as essentially cared out - as is often the case when dealing with people with the types of mental health problems Paul Gascoigne has. The trouble is people with mental health issues are very demanding and thus are extremely tiring and emotionally draining to deal with and support. They ultimately risk pushing loved ones away. I speak from direct experience. Ironically, his youngest child appeared more sensibly resigned and emotionally detached to the situation and of the view that his father has made his bed, in his tent and he should now lie in it. Clearly, that emotional bond from the Gazza happier days his stepchildren possess is not as strong in the youngest boy, if present at all. From the parts of the show I did watch (I tuned out eventually as the whole thing was so terribly depressing to watch) was less clear on how his ex-wife really felt about him nowadays.
If Paul Gascoigne specifically gave his informed permission for the programme to go out, then fine, I've no real issue with it other than I really don't know what watching a mentally ill and deeply tormented man really achieves. On the other hand, if his permission was more of a grey area issue, he ultimately withdrew his consent or he didn't give it at all, then I strongly believe the show should never have gone out.
I really don't know what the answer it for Paul Gascoigne. Slapstick comedians and pranksters tend to be become less appealing as they age and Paul is no exception. Behaving like a mischievously frantic, custard pie-throwing schoolboy was a generally appealing trait during his youth, but that type of behaviour in a 41 year old man now appears just sad and hopeless. Also, he and others have to contend with the dark and depressive, obsessive side of his nature and that side now seems much more prevalent than the throwing fully-clothed footballers into swimming pools side of his personality and can no longer be ameliorated by scoring a wonder goal at Wembley. The Gazza I watched last night came over as so bored with and so tired of life and is a rock solid example in illustrating the point that money and material things don't make you happy unless emotional stability and happiness is there to go with them. I hope something can turn it around for Paul, but I doubt it will.
Watched first 30 mins, have to say i thught the familys mtives very questionable.
have brought the great man a drink once after the 2 v2 greece game in a hotel in town. I guess there must be many 1000 who have done that for Gazza and have contributed to his illness.
George Best once said: "My ex-wives are all very quick to divorce me and tellthe world what a horrible man I am, but they all want to keep my surname."
I think that says alot, espcially for wife and unrelated children, if they really wanted Gazza out of their lives they would revert to maiden names.
I can't help but still think that the money has started to run out and this was one last milking of the cow before his death, when they can reap the final rewards.
And lest we forget, there are many sick people in the world without TV money to help them battle their demons.
I have a vivid memory of me working in the tunnel area when we palyed Boro, Gazza was up to all sorts of mischief, as the teams lined up in the tunnel Andy Townsend appeared asking if anyone had seen his shirt, there at head of the Boro line up was their young mascot, a big broad smile wearing a rather over sized Boro shirt that had been signed by all the players, when asked the kid said Gazza gave it to him, it was Townsends shirt, to cap it all Gazza tweaked my backside on the way out... great player, troubeld soul, very very sad
I can't help but still think that the money has started to run out and this was one last milking of the cow before his death, when they can reap the final rewards. [/quote]
You're probably spot on but how much dough can he possibly have left after all he has been through?
I remember that on a documentary he did on TV a couple of years back (its on You Tube) he talked about his time at Lazio and he said that he used to go to the ATM on a Friday and just look at his bank balance to see what his 25K per week wages looked like on the ATM screen!!!!
That's 16 years ago now though so even if he picked up 3.75 million quid in wages from them in his three years there then that is not that much money when you have paid your tax and had to finance an exuberant lifestyle.
I would be very surprised if he had that much left at all.
You know things are *really* bad when Iron Maiden are ringing you up panicking. . . . .
I've been in the situation of being threatened by an alcoholic parent and recognised the phone call the eldest boy took very well! It is no fun at all.
Can't see Gazza getting well again, as he is unable/incapable of helping himself.
And if that is the state of someone who comes out of The Priory is really like, I think we are all in the wrong business. . . .
Also thought the documentary was very badly edited and the counsellor did herself no favours either.
I don't think his family can do anything, but his mates can. It's ashame that they didn't ask his family what they made of his mates as I believe they are the ones to blame, pulling him out of rehab to go on benders and what not. I think they're the only ones who can help him, and I'm pretty sure they are not going to. I can't imagine how hard it has been for Cheryl.
Comments
I have an uncle who is an alcoholic and his biggest problem is that he always blames someone else for his drinking and never takes responsibility for his own life.
Similarly, just like Gazza he is always asking for one last chance and for people to bail him out of trouble.
The only person who can really help an addict is themselves.
Gazza's situation is very sad but he has had 1000 times more opportunities in life than most people will ever have and has pissed them all up the wall.
Before this I watched the wrestler film, which was also depressing (but brilliant) so I need a pick me up right now!
edit: my fav memory of him was his hatrick against Aberdeen!
He scored THAT free-kick from 35 yards for the first and bamboozled poor old Michael Thomas on the right-wing to set up the second for big ears.
At the time, even though he was half-fit, he would have been at the peak of his powers.
Same as others, would rather remember him for all the great football moments, rather than mistakes.
George was always asking for one last chance and for people to bail him out of trouble.
The only person who can really help an addict is themselves.
George's situation was and is very sad but he had 1000 times more opportunities in life than most people will ever have and pissed them all up the wall.[/quote]
- I just finished Mr Best's Autobiography
the fact that this scumbag family have made a bloody documentary about a leged like Gazza just to stick ther knife in even more and probably make his recovery even harder just rankles.
That effing thing who calls herself his daughter , which she isn't, and uses the great mans name to get herself places loves nothing better than digging him out as well
I know he is not perfect and probably was a nightmare to live with but he needs help and support as well from his so called family not effing doumenttaries.
I don't think it will be long before we have news flashes saying they have found Gazza dead somewhere and I for one will be gutted/ But then we'll be put through seeing this lot standing their with crocodile tears making out their gutted he's gone when all they will be gutted about is the fact they have lost their cash cow.
by the way I never watched it - wife asked if I wanted it sky +'ed but no way would I dare give that progrmme the time of day
you are a money grabbing bunch of mercenerary b's (still no swearing)
I will Add that the only one who was in need of sympathy Is Regan that is his dad that he is watching self distruct, he hates football he hates drinking and he hates his Dad poor kid
Shame on you Gazza for doing that to your Only child.
Shame on that bitch the "counseller" for making a few quid and pee pee poor acting she should be struck off it was like watching a 16 year old girl running after her boyfriend after a drunking fight in a pub in that bit in portugal
the ending showed you what that was all about with the other boy saying i have moved on
On one hand, there was part of me thinking that some of the family were probably enjoying their time in the limelight. On the other, the eldest boy in particular seemed genuine in his concern, while you couldn't help but feeling very sorry for Regan.
Gazza himself was obviously willing to be involved at the start - although it is very debatable as to how informed this was given his problems - so it would seem unfair to say it was all the work of the family.
Having been involved in TV filming projects in the past, I know that a lot of the 'reality' gets lost in the editing process, and ultimately you will end up with the programme that the makers, and the channel broadcasting it, want.
I would also agree, though, that the introduction of the counsellor, and the jaunt to Portugal, left you questionning the motives of all concerned.
The only one i don't feel any sympathy for is Gazza. He is an individual that has only ever been interested in himself, and just because he was talented at football, why should that make you look better at someone who was a wife beater before he'd even got his addiction problems ?
As for Ledge's point about the girl living off his name, he has been her dad since she was 3, was the one who raised her, and has never seen her real dad. I think sometimes we just look at excuses to throw muck at people for the sake of it.
Now i have to confess, in the past i've been scathing of Sheryl for deserting Paul Gascoigne. Having seen the programme, i was wrong. It's simply impossible to live with a man in the state that Gazza is in. He needs to be put into secure residence somewhere before, as a previous poster said, he's found dead in the gutter.
A tragic waste of a once brilliant footballer!
Telling that she always calls him Paul saying that "Gazza" is a different person ie the person that he thinks other people want him to be.
According to Sheryl it was Gazza who asked the family to take part in the TV show he had already agreed to. Personally I think that as Allleftfoot said these shows have a per-set story line and will be shoe horned into it regardless. They are exploitative of weak and sick people like Gascoigne.
Hope she can move on and get on with her life and that he realises that he is the problem and needs to do something about it.
They then reconciled when paul was sectioned last year but obviously not on good terms now.
I didnt watch it. I was impressed that Cheryl Gascoigne attempted to help him last yer and thought she was geunine but now after making a telly programme about a seriously ill man im not so. Even if he had agreed to it.. no one can say he was in his right mind when he agreed it.
I found it really hard to watch when watching sheryl with the wedding video and also when she spoke to the counsellor. She obviously loved him and thought she could help, but she can't, but imagine the guilt that you've given up on helping someone then they deteriorate.
Regan hardly known him, not seen him at his peak in the football world, or been involved at an old enough age with the travels of being a footballer. He's a very intelligent kid, that said what he felt about his family, and how he is guilty that he doesn't care, and he should, but then he questions why he should when his dad doesn't care. when he said how he called gazza and he didnt know who he was, that was heartbreaking.
I found it awful when they walked away from him in portugal, and Mason walked off - all absolutely devestated at what had happened, but imagine if he is found dead in a months time, they'll feel so guilty they didn't do more, and the counsellor will be able to say "oh well, you've got your own life". Not saying that they should continue to help him, but how hard must that have been?
I didn't think it was a ploy to make money, or humiliate gazza at all, I think everyone should sympathise with the lot of them, his illness, and their helplessness. It certainly made me think a lot about it.
It was extremely sad to see the old clips of Paul circa the early to later 1990s. Yes, even back in those seemingly happier days for him, you could see things weren't right mentally and his personality at best could be described as haphazard and generally chaotic, but playing football and being involved in the general camaraderie and laddish banter of the game appeared to give him a reason for living that he clearly no longer has any more. In particular, watching the present day Gascoigne being filmed making forlorn faces into mirrors and preparing for a night’s sleep inside a plastic tent in the garden didn't make easy viewing.
His stepchildren appeared to still want to care about him, but came over to me as essentially cared out - as is often the case when dealing with people with the types of mental health problems Paul Gascoigne has. The trouble is people with mental health issues are very demanding and thus are extremely tiring and emotionally draining to deal with and support. They ultimately risk pushing loved ones away. I speak from direct experience. Ironically, his youngest child appeared more sensibly resigned and emotionally detached to the situation and of the view that his father has made his bed, in his tent and he should now lie in it. Clearly, that emotional bond from the Gazza happier days his stepchildren possess is not as strong in the youngest boy, if present at all. From the parts of the show I did watch (I tuned out eventually as the whole thing was so terribly depressing to watch) was less clear on how his ex-wife really felt about him nowadays.
If Paul Gascoigne specifically gave his informed permission for the programme to go out, then fine, I've no real issue with it other than I really don't know what watching a mentally ill and deeply tormented man really achieves. On the other hand, if his permission was more of a grey area issue, he ultimately withdrew his consent or he didn't give it at all, then I strongly believe the show should never have gone out.
I really don't know what the answer it for Paul Gascoigne. Slapstick comedians and pranksters tend to be become less appealing as they age and Paul is no exception. Behaving like a mischievously frantic, custard pie-throwing schoolboy was a generally appealing trait during his youth, but that type of behaviour in a 41 year old man now appears just sad and hopeless. Also, he and others have to contend with the dark and depressive, obsessive side of his nature and that side now seems much more prevalent than the throwing fully-clothed footballers into swimming pools side of his personality and can no longer be ameliorated by scoring a wonder goal at Wembley. The Gazza I watched last night came over as so bored with and so tired of life and is a rock solid example in illustrating the point that money and material things don't make you happy unless emotional stability and happiness is there to go with them. I hope something can turn it around for Paul, but I doubt it will.
have brought the great man a drink once after the 2 v2 greece game in a hotel in town. I guess there must be many 1000 who have done that for Gazza and have contributed to his illness.
I think that says alot, espcially for wife and unrelated children, if they really wanted Gazza out of their lives they would revert to maiden names.
I can't help but still think that the money has started to run out and this was one last milking of the cow before his death, when they can reap the final rewards.
And lest we forget, there are many sick people in the world without TV money to help them battle their demons.
I can't help but still think that the money has started to run out and this was one last milking of the cow before his death, when they can reap the final rewards.
[/quote]
You're probably spot on but how much dough can he possibly have left after all he has been through?
Assume she means money from making the programme.
That's 16 years ago now though so even if he picked up 3.75 million quid in wages from them in his three years there then that is not that much money when you have paid your tax and had to finance an exuberant lifestyle.
I would be very surprised if he had that much left at all.
I've been in the situation of being threatened by an alcoholic parent and recognised the
phone call the eldest boy took very well! It is no fun at all.
Can't see Gazza getting well again, as he is unable/incapable of helping himself.
And if that is the state of someone who comes out of The Priory is really like, I think
we are all in the wrong business. . . .
Also thought the documentary was very badly edited and the counsellor did herself no favours either.
As for Bianca, does she work?
i found sheryl convincing at first as i did his eldest son (until the Danny Dyer moment at the end)
As i said b4 the only person who will come out more damaged than Gazza is Regan and i hope for his sake that his family dont do the same to him.
Gazza would have made millions on top of wages in endorsments and other stuff so i reckon there is a few shillings in the tank still