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Former England managers Bobby Robson and Terry Venables on Monday warned Glenn Hoddle he must take Paul Gascoigne to the World Cup.

Robson described Gascoigne as “priceless”  to the England team as he was the only “clever, goalscoring midfielder”   in the squad, while Venables insisted the star was “worth the trouble”  that came with him. And both are sure that England’s chances of winning the World Cup will be greatly reduced unless Gascoigne is in the team and playing near his peak.

In a perfect world, the Middlesbrough player would be a World Cup certainty but even Hoddle, who has backed him to the hilt in the past, has now expressed a note of caution about his preparations for this summer’s tournament in France.

Injury problems with Boro and Rangers, followed by recent allegedly highly-publicised drunken trips out on the town with celebrity friends Chris Evans, Rod Stewart and Danny Baker, would not seem to be the perfect build-up to the World Cup.

And Hoddle conceded at the weekend that Gascoigne was not “100%”  assured of his World Cup place and “certain things”   still worried him as the midfielder had to prove that he was right, both mentally and physically.

But Venables insisted: “We know the setbacks, we know the problems that come with Gazza but it’s worth the trouble.”He’s not scheming. He’s just like a lad who wants to be cheeky and mischievous, there’s not much more in it than that. And it’s the manager’s job to keep that under control.”I suppose I was fortunate but when I said I had had enough of something, it didn’t happen again. Yet you can’t keep on threatening him as he’ll detest you, that’s the sort of character he is.”  Venables added: “We haven’t got anyone else like him. He is a match-winner. To get to the World Cup final and win it, you have to have goalscorers who score on a consistent basis.”   You have to have a world-class striker, which we have in Alan Shearer, but you also need a midfield player who will score special goals and put fear into the opposition. “More than that, Gazza is good for the dressing room. The players love to be with him, he is infectious, not frightened of the opposition and takes everyone else along with him. His physical fitness is also very under-rated.” 

Robson similarly believes Hoddle has to pick the only player with World Cup experience that England have as he can score and create goals, as well as passing on his infectious confidence to his team-mates. “I would take him, for sure,” said England’s World Cup ‘90 manager. “He is priceless to the England team. I don’t think you could leave him behind as he’s the one clever midfielder who can score goals. “We have some good midfielders – David Batty, Paul Ince, Paul Scholes and David Beckham – and they have their own qualities.”But Gascoigne can see the pass that no-one else can see. He can stick the ball through the eye of a needle at the right moment to put it between the defenders for the likes of Shearer to run onto. He also has the dribbling ability outside the edge of the box to win you free-kicks – and possibly even get one or two players sent off – and to go past people, play one-twos with the strikers and get in himself to score goals.”