HODDLE HOPES TO GUIDE GAZZA TO NEW HEIGHTS

The new `saintly' Paul Gascoigne might just be an even greater player than the flawed genius of the last decade.

That is the hope but not the motivation behind Glenn Hoddle's faith in the Rangers midfielder, who has begun to put his violent past behind him.

The England coach knows the gamble could go the other way; that a Gazza whose aggression is curbed could lose the will to win that produces those unbelievable moments of magic.

``I don't have a crystal ball, I don't know how things will turn out. But Paul's been given a gift from an early age,'' says Hoddle on the eve of England's departure to Georgia.

``Maybe there's been too many things that have clogged him. Maybe if we can release them, with help, who's to say we can't see another Paul Gascoigne better even than in his heyday with Tottenham. That's the goal that Paul and I are looking for.''

But it will not necessarily be the bundle of explosive energy, the mesmerising, dancing feet weaving through from deep, the `old' Gazza.

Even before the allegations of wife-beating sent the 29-year-old to counsellors, desperate to change his personality, Hoddle was looking to trim his style.

``I had a chat with him last trip about maybe changing his game. He's 29, you can't do the things you did when you were younger. I found that out,'' says the England coach.

``But in many ways he's hitting his prime. If we can get his personal life and his head together we might see a Paul Gascoigne that nobody's seen yet.

``In an ideal world that would be fantastic. But he will have to adjust his game.

``The moments of magic he can still conjure up may be less often in a match and he has to be part of the jigsaw in other ways. That's another test for him.''

Hoddle, though, is more concerned with the reformation of Gascoigne the man, not Gascoigne the footballer, and to that end may give him an extra edge of motivation by leaving out of this Saturday's World Cup qualifier.

``Paul wants to play but he also respects that I've got to make that decision off the back of what I've learned over the past few weeks and what I'm going to learn in the next few day,'' says the coach.

Gascoigne is desperate to impress, courageously meeting the media to apologise for his behaviour, to own up to the ``rage'' which has blighted his life, to insist he already feels different after two weeks' counselling.

The humour, the basic appeal of the man, still shone through, though he knows even that has to be toned down.

``Obviously I've done things out of the heat of the moment or whatever. And then the next day I've regretted it. Then I've tried to hide it by joking and that and pretending I didn't regret it, which I have done,'' says Gascoigne.

``Now obviously I have to think about doing things before I do them. Then I won't be in as much trouble as I have been in the past.''

Hoddle hopes the inquest is now over, and that now the planning for Tbilisi can begin in earnest.

But he has self-confessed alcoholic Tony Adams back, as well as recovery specialist Paul Merson, also claiming his attention and sympathy.

Many find the image of the England coach as a kind of social worker a little irrelevant, but Hoddle will never abandon any player who needs his help.

``Even at Swindon I had to deal with these sort of things, in a smaller arena admittedly, just two reporters instead of this media army. At Chelsea things happened behind the scenes too,'' he says.

``It's not about being an agony aunt. It's part of man management, it's part of looking at them as a person as well as a player. That's a major issue.

``They are players during training time but they're people too, they go through the same emotions and difficulties as anyone else. And in many ways they don't face up to them as easily as other people.''

The danger is that Gascoigne overshadows this week, that resentment builds up among the other, more conventional players.

Hoddle sees no signs of that and said: ``They've all been as good as gold, no problems at all. Paul's come in and the spirit in the camp has been the same as for the last two get-togethers.

``In many ways, with Tony back and the infectious character of Ian Wright, the spirit's even better, nice and bubbly.''

But he does have problems with Dominic Matteo's England dream turning into a nightmare.

The Liverpool defender is facing another return home, a month after his knee problem prevented him even training with the seniors on his first call-up.

The 22-year-old has now suffered a recurrence of the problem and Hoddle, who also has doubts over David Seaman and Merson, says: ``Dominic would be the bigger risk.

``We're hoping all three will be all right but we'll have to see over the next couple of days.''

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