Gascoigne: 'I won't leave Kettering'

Paul Gascoigne tonight insisted the players and staff at Kettering Town were behind him as he vowed to attend tomorrow night’s match at Alfreton and eventually regain control of the club.

A clearly emotional Gascoigne admitted he had drunk before a recent match, but remained in control of himself and was not under the influence at a recent match, as chairman Imraan Ladak had claimed.

“So what? I tell you the truth, I had a double brandy before the game,” Gascoigne, 38, told Sky Sports News.

“Before it used to be four bottles of whisky. It’s not any more.

“I spoke to Paul Davis who has been at Arsenal for 20-odd years, I was fine; I spoke to Chris Waddle, who I was sat next to, and I was fine; I spoke to (managing director) Andy Billingham, and I was fine; I spoke to the players.”

Ladak dismissed Gascoigne after claiming the former England midfielder was in no fit state to run the team.

But Gascoigne was dismissive of the chairman’s ability to run a football club, repeatedly referring to Ladak as “a doctor” whose knowledge of the game was limited.

“As far as I’m concerned I’m not sacked because I never signed a contract,” said Gascoigne.

“I will make Andy Billingham the chairman and I will continue to be manager and bring the club forward the way it should be.

“There is a battle there – the chairman who is a doctor and I am Paul Gascoigne the footballer.

“He told me he’s been watching football for 20 years five days a week and knows how football should be played.

“Well the guy can’t trap a bag of cement as far as I’m concerned.

“I won’t walk away. I’ll do it my way and I’ll keep doing it my way.

“I stuck by my own guns. I stuck by the way football should be played, I stuck by everything.”

Gascoigne intends to be with the team in their Nationwide Conference North match at Alfreton tomorrow night, although it seems certain he will not be in charge – Kevin Wilson was named the club’s new manager earlier today.

However he intends to watch the action from behind the Kettering dugout and fire instructions to the players.

“I’ve had all the players onto me since 1am this morning and they’re all behind me, the staff are behind me, and Kettering Town are behind me,” said Gascoigne, before renewing his attack on the chairman.

“He’s a control freak and that’s it.”