CALL me heartless if you want, but I feel sick to death reading people coming forward to show support for Paul Gascoigne.

The former England star was detained under the Mental Health Act last week after reportedly showing some disturbing behaviour at a hotel.

This is the latest episode in Gascoigne's chequered career which is remembered for his off-field troubles, rather than on-field glories.

Wife-beating, heavy drinking, drugs, gambling, he is also a regular patron of rehabilitation centres.

Now he's in the mad house.

His former clubs, Tottenham and Newcastle, and numerous team-mates have come out to offer help, support and sympathy for the troubled man.

The words of support are flowing as freely as Gazza's booze.

I say, he doesn't deserve anyone's sympathy. Why should anyone feel sorry for him?

All his troubles are self-inflicted. He is in such a rut not because of football.

The fame and fortune that came to him early in his fledgling career was not to blame for his life's sob stories.

People talk about the pressure Gascoigne faced, and that he cracked because the hopes of a nation rested on his shoulders.

Are you telling me that Zinedine Zidane, arguably the best footballer in the world over the past decade, did not feel pressured to deliver success for his club or country?

That the Frenchman did not enjoy fame and fortune?

What about David Beckham? Not half as good as Gazza, but much more famous and scrutinised in the media than Gazza ever was.

Beckham did not go out and get drunk and do drugs.

So who can Gazza blame? Himself, of course. It is his lack of self-control that has caused him to be in such a state.

I have utterly no sympathy too for so-called football stars who wrecked their careers by their own undoing.

Players like Diego Maradona (Argentina), George Best, Paul McGrath (both Man United) and Tony Adams (Arsenal) were great players, but they spent more time fighting alcoholism and drug addiction, rather than fighting for honours with their clubs and countries.

The last I've heard, McGrath is still roaming the streets of Manchester like a tramp.

How can anyone have respect for such players?

ROLE MODELS

I would only respect players like Pele, Bobby Charlton, Franz Beckenbauer, Johan Cruyff and Michel Platini - men who not only achieved great things on the pitch, but also led a fulfilling life off it.

They are great role models. Not Gazza or Maradona.

I have known Gazza for a long time. We were team-mates at Newcastle when he first started his career at Tyneside in the 1980s.

He is a smashing lad, the nicest you can find anywhere.

He was also a fantastic footballer, as well as a dedicated one.

But this guy has got an obsession problem. During his younger days, he was obsessed with football. He would train with both the reserves and first team just so he could satisfy his appetite for football.

He mixed around with the wrong company - the most incorrigible is that lad called Jimmy 'Five Bellies'.

And when he touched a pint of lager, it soon became two, three and ended up having dozens.

After three seasons at Newcastle, Gascoigne made the decision that would wreck his career - he rejected Manchester United and went to Tottenham.

He soon succumbed to the bright lights of London and the debauchery continued till this day.

If he had gone to United, I believe - under Sir Alex Ferguson's guidance - he would not have ended up this way.

But the fact remains that, even though Gascoigne was one of England's best players of his time, it doesn't mean he deserves our sympathy.

He only has himself to blame.