I’M HALL FOR HERO GAZZA
FROM BACK PAGE the nomination of his boyhood idol. He claims Gazza deserves to join the pantheon of greats of the Scottish game and that organisers got it wrong when they turned their back amid concerns over his troubled past. Gerrard said: “I was disappointed with the decision. I was gutted for him and it’s the wrong decision, he should be in there. Hopefully one day they see sense and it gets resurrected. “I guarantee people who have decided not to put him in were on the edge of their couch, jumping round when he was on the TV. “If they are football people, they would have enjoyed watching Paul Gascoigne and they would appreciate the man as a footballer. He should be in. “He was my England hero growing up. I had Johnny Barnes and Ian Rush at Liverpool and Gazza for England. “The 1990 World Cup was the first I followed and he was terrific in the competition. He was one of the best players in the world at the time and I bought the DVDs, the shirts and the videos.
“I was only a youngster when I first played against him and it was just ‘wow’ for me to be on the same pitch. To grace the same turf as Gazza, who was my hero, was unbelievable.”
Hall of Fame organisers originally backed the induction of Gascoigne, who spent three years at Rangers from 1995, but they performed a U-turn when told SFA board members were ready to snub the event.
Asked if the episode reflected badly on the Scottish game, Gerrard added: “What can I say and do about that? I just feel for Gazza because he deserved the accolade.
“I am picturing him now, playing when I was a young boy. Our living room stopped when Gazza was on the box and I was lucky to compete against him.
“I was also fortunate enough to have conversations with him and what a man, what a player.
“Funnily enough, I exchanged texts with him a couple of months back. He just said to me, ‘I am on Instagram, you better follow me, hurry up!’ So I did.”
Meanwhile Rangers, who have now been handed a total of 32,000 tickets for the Betfred Cup semi-final against Aberdeen, face fresh injury woes over midfielder Graham Dorrans.
He has suffered ankle and knee injuries in the past 12 months and is set for another spell on the sidelines, with his last appearance the 4-0 cup win over Ayr on September 26.
Gerrard – who takes his side to Hamilton tomorrow – said: “Graham has had a bit of a setback this week and has gone back to see the surgeon.”