FOR a man who accentuates the spiritual, Glenn Hoddle has got rather too heavily into deception for my liking. So it's a bit rich for him to complain when his team fools the country. But he has a point. England are not half as bad as they have looked lately. There is no justification for the cloud of pessimism that has descended over the World Cup preamble. When, before the vital qualifier in Rome last October, Hoddle let it be mistakenly thought that David Beckham and Gareth Southgate were struggling for fitness, he was trying to wrong-foot the Italians. Fair enough, you might think. Managerial mind games. But who was he trying to kid last week in Casablanca? The scare over Paul Ince's ankle proved counterfeit as the Liverpool midfielder trotted out to face Morocco. Just as false as England's performances in both that match and the dire draw with Belgium that followed: they were, in effect, B internationals in which experimental sides went through the motions. At this stage of the campaign, when Hoddle was finalising his decisions on which players to leave out of his 22, the real England were never going to stand up. We were never going to see their best moves, or the set-piece manoeuvres they are bound to be tucking up their sleeves for the serious business to come. As Hoddle put it: If anyone judges us now, they are fools. We also have to consider the training regime, which is designed to bring England to peak condition over the next fortnight. What they resembled last week was a club side flexing their muscles after the summer break, a side in pre-season mode, which is exactly how they should look if they are training properly. Hoddle has stressed that they are working extremely hard and we have to trust him on that, to accept that he got the preparation right during qualification and is doing so again, bringing to bear tournament experience he gained as a player. Naturally there are anxieties and it cannot be denied that the defence, dodgy throughout the Wembley send-off against Saudi Arabia, is one. Paul Gascoigne's especial sluggishness is another. But the most significant moment of last week arrived when Michael Owen got off the mark in such style. He simply cannot be left out and that is a problem for Hoddle, who has become accustomed to relying on the partnership of Alan Shearer and Teddy Sheringham up front. What should he do now? Play all three, in my view. But by the time he sits down to make his choice to face Tunisia it will be what Hoddle has noted amid the privacy of the training field that sways him, not the phoney war of Casablanca. Patrick Barclay is a Football Columnist with the Sunday Telegraph. This piece was written before the England squad was announced. Thanks a lot Glenn! BANKS WILL STAY AT HOME Sports Minister Won't Use Tickets In Protest AS ENGLAND fans lucky enough to be expecting tickets listen for the courier ringing the door bell, one man who could be going to France announced at the weekend that he won't be. Sports Minister Tony Banks has disclosed that although he has tickets for the World Cup finals he will not be using them. He said he would not attend the competition, which starts in 10 days, in protest at the mess over ticket arrangements for the tournament. I have got tickets. I actually am not going to go - quite deliberately not going to go - out of protest because of the way the (ticket) system operates, or doesn't operate. It strikes me that if I say to people ‘Don't go if you haven't got a ticket' then I don't want anyone taking a picture of me sitting in the VIP section and saying, ‘It's all right for you, mister, but what about the rest of us?' Instead the Labour MP for West Ham will watch the World Cup on big screens with a lot of other people . Speaking during an impassioned 30-minute speech at the Football Supporters Association's annual conference in Wolverhampton yesterday, Banks also called for the introduction of a regulatory body to protect the interests of football fans. The Chelsea fan, who has recently been involved in a war of words over escalating season-ticket prices, said the Government intended to persuade football's rulers to introduce a body allowing fans redress for some of the problems affecting the game. He said the issue of a regulatory body for soccer would not go away . It should be resolved by a voluntary move by the game's administrators, he added. He told about 200 FSA members: A regulatory body is now being called for. Football fans are saying, ‘Who can we turn to?' The fact is that football fans are getting more and more frustrated at not being able to get redress for some of the genuine problems we have got in football. The Minister cited the media as an example of an industry with a voluntary regulatory body which works, and he added that the Government might impose a similar body if football officialdom did not introduce one voluntarily. He said: I am hoping that those that run football - the chairmen of the clubs, the FA, the Premier League - are listening to what is being said by me and by others - that they have got to do something because if they don't do something, we will have to do something for them. In the end I would rather the people involved did things on a voluntary basis and came willingly to the table, rather than were coerced to the table. This issue is one which is not going to go away and is one we are seriously discussing within our own ranks, and one that I am sure we will return to until we got some sort of resolution. Banks' status as a genuine fan who actually pays for his season ticket is in sharp contrast to his predecessors it is impossible to imagine Conservatives Colin Moynihan or Iain Sproat addressing the FSA. His moves will be widely welcomed but one question will be on a million pairs of lips: If he's not using his World Cup tickets can I have them?

GAZZA: THE YEARS OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY   JULY 1990: Bursts into tears during World Cup semi-final with West Germany after receiving a yellow card which would have ruled him out of the final. Wins hearts of fans everywhere. MAY 1991: Lasts just 17 minutes of FA Cup final in what turns out to be his last major game for Tottenham. Makes lunging challenge on Nottingham Forest's Gary Charles, but is himself badly injured, tearing cruciate right knee ligaments. Out of the game for 16 months. SEPTEMBER 1991: Career appears in doubt after he has fresh surgery on his suspect knee following injuries sustained in a nightclub scuffle back home on Tyneside. SEPTEMBER 1992: Lasts just 45 minutes of Lazio Italian League debut after picking up a fresh injury to the most famous knee in British sport. JANUARY 1993: Provokes outrage by belching into a television microphone when asked how he feels about being dropped by his Italian club. FEBRUARY 1993: Five photographers are briefly detained by Italian police after a row involving Gascoigne and his girlfriend. Produces disappointing display for England against San Marino and England manager Graham Taylor speculates that he may have a ''refuelling problem''. AUGUST 1993: Reports back to Lazio after summer break in England a stone and a half overweight. DECEMBER 1993: Reports back to Rome after a Christmas break with a thigh strain… suffered getting out of bed! JANUARY 1994: Breaks rib in match against Sampdoria. Held by police after allegedly punching a press photographer in a central Roman street. APRIL 1994: Career in doubt again after breaks his jinxed right leg in two places while training for Lazio. Out of action for a year. JULY 1994: Admits to a Sunday newspaper that he beat up and bullied girlfriend Sheryl Kyle for two years. DECEMBER 1994: Police investigate allegations that a bodyguard threatened a tourist in a London pub and stole a roll of film from his camera. APRIL 1995: Returns to action for Lazio. MAY 1995: Signs for Glasgow Rangers in #4.3million deal. JULY 1995: Row after Gascoigne plays an imaginary flute after scoring for Rangers. Seen as provocative sectarian gesture in divided city. SEPTEMBER 1995: Returns for England, after 18-month absence, against Colombia. JANUARY 1996: Gascoigne warned by police after an incident in an Indian restaurant in home town of Gateshead. FEBRUARY 1996: Sheryl gives birth to boy, Regan. Gascoigne reportedly goes drinking in London at same time as she is going into labour and is hundreds of miles away in the North-East at the time of the birth. APRIL 1996: Crowned Scottish Player of the Year by his fellow professionals. Hat-trick against Aberdeen makes Rangers champions for eighth time. MAY 1996: Gascoigne pleads with fans not to wreck Euro 96. Took part in England players' drinking session in Hong Kong to celebrate his 29th birthday. Said to be involved in causing damage to Cathay Pacific plane bringing England back from Far East tour. MAY 1996: named Scottish Footballer Of The Year JUNE 1996: Stars for England in Euro 96, scoring great goal against Scotland on the way as they reach semi-finals before losing to Germany on penalties. OCTOBER 1996: Attacks wife Sheryl in Gleneagles Hotel leaving her with a cut and bruised face, and her arm in a sling. Sent off for Rangers against Ajax in the Champions' League 4-1 defeat in Amsterdam. He later tells a press conference: 'I'm a disgrace'. MARCH 1997: Runs into more criticism from club manager Walter Smith after some well-publicised nights out in London. MAY 1997: Returns from injury to guide Rangers to a record-equalling ninth League title and welcomed back into England fold for the summer. JULY 1997: Signs new three-year deal with Rangers. SEPTEMBER 1997: Wins rave reviews for man-of-match display in home 4-0 World Cup win over Moldova. NOVEMBER 1997: Sent off for violent conduct against Celtic after clash with Morten Wieghorst. JANUARY 1998: Disciplined by Rangers after being caught on camera mimiking a flute player in a sectarian gesture during the Old Firm match at Celtic Park. MARCH 1998: Given a ''very severe warning'' for his flute-playing mime by the Scottish Football Association. Joins Middlesbrough in #3million deal and plays in 2-0 Coca-Cola Cup final defeat by Chelsea. MAY 1998: England boss Glenn Hoddle expresses his disappointment after Gascoigne is pictured eating a kebab in the early hours after a night out with Chris Evans. Disappointing World Cup warm-up campaign ends with him being left out of Glenn Hoddle's squad.

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