French fiction - Hoddle

A REPORT in yesterday's L'Equipe suggested Glenn Hoddle had told French journalists he could speak more candidly to them than to the English press.

But Hoddle says the report of the interview he gave to three reporters, at Mottram Hall in Cheshire, before the friendly win over South Africa bears no resemblance to the one he recalls.

The English FA backed up their" man, with its director of public affairs, David Davies, saying the article "appears to be a quite breathtaking combination of half-truths and amazing inventions".

According to the report, Hoddle outlined the battle Gascoigne has fought within himself in his struggle to stay at the top in football. "The two weeks before announcing the squad, I met Paul several times. He wanted to confide what was at the heart of him. I advised him to get some advice.

Psychological? Psychiatric? Psychotherapy? "It's not a question of psychotherapy, more of counselling. He's being guided. It's had a positive effect on him.

"Football must be his obsession ... Paul no longer thinks of football as a priority in his life. He thinks too much about money and is caught up in his personal problems."

Hoddle was also quoted as saying it could be in Gascoigne's best interests if he left Rangers. "Glasgow has won everything for nine years. It's too easy for him there. If he moves nearer London, that would help us in our work."

But time was running out for the troubled midfielder. "You know I am telling you more than the English press on this matter, Paul is playing his last card," Hoddle said.

"We've got an expression in England: `the penny must drop one day.' Thirty years old, it's a funny age. It's time that it dropped (the penny) with Paul. If that doesn't happen, I wash my hands of him."