Paul Gascoigne slams Premier League stars who have 'everything on a plate for them'

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Paul Gascoigne has revealed he cannot watch "crap" Premier League stars who get paid £300,000-a-week when “they can’t even trap a bag of cement”.

And the Three Lions said modern Tottenham players “struggle” because “everything is on a plate for them”. But Gazza admitted his own judgement was not always perfect as he also thought Gary Lineker was “crap” when he first arrived at Spurs.

The former England star, 58, gave a rambling interview on talkSPORT on Monday morning as part of his media round to promote his new autobiography Eight. He broke down in tears on Good Morning Britain and had to apologise for swearing.

And the Gateshead-born ex-midfielder, who admitted he watches little football now, said he was shocked to see how current Premier League players are now molly-coddled.

“The players today have got everything on a plate for them,” he claimed. “I went to the Tottenham training ground just after it was built. And there was this guy, he was huge, six foot six and full of muscle. And I said: ‘You must be the fitness coach?’

"And he said: ‘No, if the wife calls us up 2:00 in the morning and the baby is crying, I go and look after the baby’. And I went: ‘Wow’. He said: ‘If they need shopping. I have to do the shopping for them’.

"And the players, they park the car up and go and walk 100 yards, or we would. But they have got buggy carts and they sit in the carts and get taken 50 yards. I was like: ‘Wow, how easy it is for them’. And I thought that is why they would struggle because everything is on a plate for them. When we played, we had to graft for everything.”

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Gascoigne won 57 England caps - and helped take Bobby Robson’s side to the 1990 World Cup semi-finals - but said he does not like watching the modern game. “For me, I can’t stand seeing a crap player getting paid £300,000 and he can’t even trap a bag of cement,” he said. “It drives me nuts.”

Asked about the England team under Thomas Tuchel, he added: “I like (Marcus) Rashford - I wish he would smile every now and again. It winds me up. When you score, smile at least. Just celebrate.

"I like Cole Palmer. I like Foden - we have got quite a few individual players. I watched them the other night - Star Trek wasn’t on so I decided to watch the England game. I watch and think: ‘Just have a go’. Five minutes to go and they are keeping at the back and it winds me up. I cannot hack it.”

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Gascoigne formed a great understanding with Lineker for club and country but the former Newcastle playmaker admitted he was not initially impressed when the striker moved to White Hart Lane for £1.1m in 1989.

"I remember when we signed Lineker, he didn’t score for the first few games and I went to Terry Venables and said: ‘You told me he was good - he is crap. He has not even scored'. And he said: ‘Give him a chance. You need to work him out. And in the next game, he scored.”

The former Match of the Day presenter went on to finish top scorer in the old First Division in 1989-90 with 24 goals as Spurs finished third - and then helped win the FA Cup in 1991.