PAUL GASCOIGNE has admitted he “cried his eyes out” when former boss Terry Venables died.
Gazza played under Venables at Tottenham and for England, producing some of the best football of his career.
And it hit him like a ton of bricks when Venables died in November 2023 after a long illness.
Gascoigne told FourFourTwo: “When he died, I was sat in the car and cried my eyes out.
“Terry was a f***ing diamond. He had to be, to put up with me.”
Gazza, 58, also admitted that Venables was the best manager he ever played for and labelled “every day” the highlight of their time together.
Dagenham-born Venables spent three years at Tottenham as a player, and got the manager’s job in 1987.
The following year he broke the British transfer record to sign Gascoigne from boyhood club Newcastle for £2.2million.
Gazza was electric during his four years at Spurs and left for Lazio the year after Venables departed in 1991.
They reunited in 1994 when England appointed Venables, who once again brought the best out of Gascoigne at Euro 96.
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Venables was a guiding light for Gascoigne during a turbulent career which was pockmarked by injuries and alcohol issues.
And Gascoigne revealed that he was warned by Venables about Glenn Hoddle – the man who succeeded his mentor as England manager, and who dished out the toughest rejection of his career by leaving him out of his 1998 World Cup squad.
Gazza told FourFourTwo: “It took me a year to get over it. I was going through a divorce, my head wasn’t right and Glenn Hoddle is a p***k.
“Terry Venables had warned me, ‘Be careful, Hoddle’s going to try to make a name for himself.’ He probably did.
“Hoddle’s a p***k anyway – he’s a f***ing d**k.”
