Given his head in Italia '90, Gazza returned as the nation's favourite
son and he began the season in high spirits with a series of ebullient
performances and goals to match. He scored in the opening day victory
against Manchester City and against Derby he single-handedly won the
game with a hat-trick, two of which were classic free kicks, from a
virtually identical spot thirty yards out, differing only in that one
went to Shilton's left, the other to his right. Both were simply
unstoppable, as, apparently, was Gascoigne himself, irrepressible and
mesmerising in a series of dynamic displays. Hartlepool at home in the
League Cup was hardly on a par with Germany, but he destroyed the
visitors, scoring four in a 5-0 victory. In later rounds he notched the
winner against Bradford and another versus Sheffield Utd as Spurs
reached the 5th round of that competition. After a barren spell he
scored twice in December in two away defeats to Chelsea and Manchester
City, his last in the League. As his powers waned, so did Tottenham's
fortunes.
They fell away after a steady start, winning only two League
matches in 1991 and limping home a disappointing 11th. But his greatest
impact, not merely in this season but in his Tottenham career, came in
the FA Cup. After a solid away win at Blackpool in the third round,
Gascoigne delivered two scintillating performances, scoring twice
against Oxford, including a stunning individual effort, and again at
Portsmouth in the next round (the photo above is during the game),
the winner coming from a long ball, a shimmy then an unstoppable left
footer from the edge of the area. In round 5, at home to Notts County,
he atoned for an early error with a memorable display that lifted the
lifted the team, culminating in a late winner after it seemed that
intense Spurs' pressure would come to nothing. This was Gascoigne at his
finest, inspired to hitherto unknown heights by the magic of the Cup,
but it is the unselfconscious energy, bravado and joy of his game that
lingers in the memory. One reason perhaps why the fans loved him,
because he would respond to their sense of occasion, not with
trepidation but as the key to unlock his true, almost limitless
potential. Yet unbeknown to his adoring public, all the while he had
been carrying a hernia injury. Injections could no longer postpone the
inevitable operation.
Tension mounted as Spurs approached the
semi-final, no ordinary game even in their illustrious history, for this
was the first such match against bitter rivals Arsenal and the first
ever semi-final to take place at Wembley. Gascoigne struggled back, his
only preparation was half a game in a league defeat away to Norwich; he
was substituted. His fitness was confirmed only hours before kick-off
but Paul, roused not deterred by such drama, did not hold back. An early
free kick, thirty yards out, struck with sweet certainty into the top
corner, improbable, miraculous, glorious, the fan behind this author
still bitterly castigating Gascoigne for his temerity to shoot from that
distance even as the ball furled the net! Gazza leapt in the air with
unconfined joy. He set up Lineker for the second and played a full role
in a 3-1 victory that many Spurs fans still prize as the most memorable
performance of the modern era. By the day of the Final against
Nottingham Forest, the drama had been cranked to fever pitch. As ever at
Tottenham, turbulence off the pitch proved the catalyst for the theatre
that was to follow on it. Rescue from crippling debt was possible only
by selling its prize asset. Gascoigne went into the game knowing that it
was to be his last for the club, an £8.5m fee having been agreed with
Lazio. He started frantically, but this time the burden of expectation
proved too great. An utterly reckless early challenge on Garry Parker
went unpunished but signalled danger ahead. Later the referee reflected
that had he been booked then, he may have calmed down.
As it was, a few
minutes later another dangerous high lunge at the edge of the box left
Gazza and full-back Gary Charles in a heap. After treatment, Paul rose
gingerly to his feet, only to see Stuart Pearce score from the resulting
free kick. Lucky not to be sent off, Gascoigne departed instead on a
stretcher, an ignominious end to his Tottenham career, although Spurs
went on to a 2-1 triumph after extra time. His victorious team-mates
joined him at his hospital bed for the celebrations. The resulting
injury meant a year out of the game, with the transfer to Lazio
eventually going ahead, for a reduced fee of £5.5m. Although he was
relatively successful in Italy, where he remains extremely popular with
the Lazio fans, he never quite regained the excellence of his best
Tottenham performances. For Spurs fans of a certain generation, Paul is
but one thing, a true great who graced their colours with moments of
genius. It was an honour and a privilege to watch him play. (Alan
Fisher)
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