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Paul Gascoigne has revealed he was drunk hours before he was axed from England’s World Cup squad. The Middlesbrough midfielder joined other England players for a drinks and karaoke night at a bar in their luxury hotel in La Manga, Spain. “Yes, I was drunk. I’d not had a drink in nine days,” he admits in The Sun.

Gascoigne reveals in the paper how he reacted when he was told by coach Glenn Hoddle he was not in the final 22.

“I walked into Hoddle’s room and I was just waiting to explode. He looked at me and said ‘Paul, I’m sorry but you’re not fit enough’. I went mad. I lost my rag big time. I was shouting and swearing. I couldn’t believe the injustice of it. I admit I kicked the door, kicked the furniture.” 

Gascoigne also admits that he felt that “Hoddle may as well have killed me” when he broke the shattering news. “As far as I am concerned my fitness is not a problem. I feel as if I am paying for past mistakes. I’ve never let England down before. I worked harder than anyone for Glenn and for England over the last nine days,” said Gascoigne.

“At the moment I honestly feel I couldn’t care less if he never picks me again. ” 

Hoddle said he had “gone out on a limb” to help Gascoigne but revealed he had “not been at his best physically and mentally” and that he had little choice but to leave him out.

Gascoigne had angered the England coach with his nights out on the town with celebrities Chris Evans and Rod Stewart. Hoddle had earlier given a different view of what happened at the karaoke session, claiming: “These stories about Paul supposedly taking a swing at me – he in fact shook my hand – and being drunk on Saturday are unfair and total fabrication. Yes, I did allow the players to have a drink but nothing silly happened. The coaching staff were there and there were no problems at all. The lads had worked hard for two weeks and so were allowed a drink. That gets turned into ‘someone was drunk’ which wasn’t the case and we had a good night. There was a bit of karaoke with a few people on the mike and that’s the sort of thing that is needed to build team spirit.” 

Hoddle insisted: “There was nothing in my decision to leave out Paul Gascoigne that was influenced by anything away from the playing and fitness side. I’ve gone out on a limb with him to try to make him see what is needed in the modern game at 31 and to a degree he has got on board at certain times with certain things. The last thing I wanted to do was tell Paul he wasn’t going to the World Cup – and a fit Paul Gascoigne, the player at the level against Moldova, Italy and Cameroon earlier this season, would have been in my squad. But physically and mentally he has not been at his best during this period of time and in the World Cup, when you could play seven matches, you need players you can rely on to play 90 minutes and do a job.” Meanwhile, Middlebrough manager Bryan Robson backed Gascoigne to bounce back from his World Cup heartbreak to spearhead Middlesbrough’s Premiership challenge next season.

Gazza was a driving force in Boro’s return to the top flight and his manager Robson now wants the midfielder to concentrate on next season. “I don’t think Gazza has got anything to prove,” said the midfielder’s club manager.

“He has proved in the past that he is a top quality player.” All I want him to do is enjoy his football with us, and if he is then Middlesbrough will benefit from that.

“I spoke to Paul this morning, and he is very upset. He really knuckled in to try and win us promotion, which he did fine for us. I said to him it is a big disappointment but he has only just turned 31 and he has still got plenty of football left in him. He has got to enjoy his football next season and prove his fitness because then you’ve got the European Championships coming up. But that is going to be no consolation to him after missing out on the World Cup finals which is the one all footballers want to play in.” Robson reiterated his shock at Glenn Hoddle’s decision to axe Gascoigne from the final 22-man squad. “I am surprised. Gazza is a top quality player and is a player who can win you a game out of nothing, especially at the highest level – and that is what England are going into. He proved towards the end of the season for us that his fitness had no problems. He came through our last games with flying colours. He did really well for us and he was up and down on the pitch. When he left us at the end of the season he was getting very close to being 100 percent fit.”