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On Soccer AM...

Image: Gascoigne: joins Max and Helen

Spurs legend Paul Gascoigne, Shifty star Daniel Mays and Goldie Lookin Chain are on the couch.

This Saturday Gazza joins Max and Helen

Do not miss this Saturday's Soccer AM - this week the famous orange sofas will be graced by an absolute legend of the game. The one and only Paul Gascoigne will be joining Max and Helen on the show and looking back on his stunning career, where his exceptional talent established him as one of England's finest ever players. The Gateshead-born midfielder began his career at Newcastle United where, after captaining the youth team to the FA Youth Cup title, he made his debut against QPR in 1985 as an 18 year old. After being named as the best young player in the country Gascoigne became the first player to break the £2 million transfer barrier when he signed for Tottenham Hotspur in the summer of 1988. The move came in controversial circumstances after Sir Alex Ferguson thought he had a deal struck to secure the young star. However, Gascoigne signed for Spurs - a move Ferguson later described as the biggest disappointment of his managerial career. At White Hart Lane, though, the talented midfielder became a hero.

Iconic

His iconic appearance at the 1990 World Cup will be familiar with everybody in the country. His emotional reaction to receiving a yellow card in the semi-final, which would have ruled him out of the final had England not crashed out on penalties, defined an era of English football. However, the following season he bounced back to guide Spurs to the FA Cup Final. He scored six goals on the road to Wembley but the encounter with Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest was to be one of the lowest moments in his career. With just 17 minutes on the clock a lunging tackle on Gary Charles caused Gascoigne to rupture knee ligaments. The injury kept him out of the game for over a year. He had agreed to join Lazio the following season but his debut in Italy was delayed until the start of the 1992/93 season and an inconsistent season followed. A broken leg the following season kept him out of much of the 1994/95 season before he eventually returned to Britain with Rangers. Gascoigne played for Rangers 74 times, scoring 30 goals during a successful time north of the boarder where he collected a host of silverware, including two league titles and the Player of the Year award. In the summer of 1996 he was again lighting up the international stage, scoring a wonder goal against Scotland in the European Championships, before again suffering semi-final penalty heartbreak. He'll be speaking about his fantastic career, which included spells at Middlesbrough and Everton among other clubs, and what he makes of the modern game.
Shifty
Alongside Gazza will be Daniel Mays, the star of the critically acclaimed Brit flick Shifty, which is out in cinemas now. The thriller charts an action packed 24 hours in the life of a young crack cocaine dealer on the outskirts of London. Mays' character, Chris, returns to where he grew up to find his old friend, Shifty, but, after a day shadowing his pal, discovers he is in deep trouble with his supplier. Mays has recently starred in Plus One and the TV adaptation of David Peace's Red Riding and will be discussing his role in 'Shifty' before talking football with Helen and Max. Mays, from Essex, is a Leyton Orient supporter and we'll be finding out what he makes of the current squad. The O's have had a season of stability in League One, clear of relegation, though off the pace for a play-off place.
Rap pack
We also have three members of Goldie Looking Chain in the studios this Saturday. Maggot, who finished third in the fourth series of Celebrity Big Brother, along with bandmates Mike Balls and Adam Hussain, will be representing the Welsh rappers, who made the top three in the charts in 2004 with 'Guns Don't Kill People Rappers Do.' Often controversial, always hilarious GLC will be chatting about the making of their latest album ASBO4Life and no doubt commenting on the Premier League title challenge of Liverpool, the club they support. Plus, we'll have all your usual favourites including, Small Talk with Baby Elvis, Chesterfield's Skill Skool, Crossbar Challenge with Swindon, Our Man in a Caff, Birmingham fans in the Luther Blissett stand, and Terry Nutkins will gives us his match prediction for Sunderland v Hull. And there's more, because we'll also see how Tubes got on when he met John Terry and Ashley Cole at the Chelsea training ground! So tune in to Soccer AM, 9am, Saturday, on Sky Sports 1 and Sky 1 and see all the gang including this week's stunning Soccerette who is a Chelsea fan!

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