His latest battle with his demons came last night when he was detained by police in Gateshead and sectioned under the Mental Health Act.

In truth, it came as no surprise.

It would be wonderful to report that Gascoigne had found something to replace the buzz which came with being the most gifted footballer of his generation.

Wonderful to report that he had found a way of repaying a game which made him rich and famous and an icon to so many football-mad schoolchildren.

Wonderful to report that he had found a way to file the good memories and forget the bad in a career which promised so much but ultimately remained frustratingly unfulfilled.

But that's not how it works with Gazza.

With Gazza, triumphs and tears go hand in hand, always have done, always will.

Just as they did in that World Cup semi-final against West Germany back in 1990 when a yellow card ruled him out of a potential final and brought that knowing glance to the touchline from England team-mate Gary Lineker.

Lineker tapped his temple as if to warn that the highly-strung Gascoigne was in danger of snapping.

As it happened, Gascoigne, on that occasion, kept it together, something which has not always been the case over the subsequent years.

To list Gascoigne's misdemeanours in print in their entirety would create a hole in the Amazonian rainforest.

Suffice to say that they began with that reckless lunge on Nottingham Forest's Gary Charles while playing for Tottenham in the 1991 FA Cup final.

The ensuing cruciate ligament damage was the catalyst for a career dogged by injury, some of it caused by misfortune, much of it caused by an uncanny knack of being in the wrong nightclub with the wrong people at the wrong time.

Heavy drinking, a penchant for junk food, poor advice, the wrong company: all have been blamed for the manner in which Gascoigne frittered away his talent in a playing career which stopped off at Newcastle, Tottenham, Lazio, Rangers, Middlesbrough, Everton, Burnley, Gansu Tianma of China and Boston.

His career has been peppered with destructive acts, such as the rage he flew into when trashing Glenn Hoddle's hotel room after being dropped from his England World Cup squad in 1998 and the goodwill he squandered when he admitted to beating his ex-wife Sheryl.

Until then, the pranks and the japes had been daft but largely harmless.

That, however, was inexcusable and the inability to reconcile himself with Sheryl, with whom he has a son, perhaps goes to the heart of Gascoigne's increasing decline.

So often, it seems, genius proves to be so flawed.

And yet, even after all the chances and all the failings, Gascoigne retains an affection among the footballing public.

We remember the mischievous enthusiasm of his early days, the famous picture of his tangle with Vinnie Jones, the brilliance of Italia 90, the courage with which he battled his injuries, the charity work he undertook.

And the goals, such as the classic volley against Scotland in Euro 96 after which he lay on the Wembley turf and invited his team-mates to pour drink down his neck, thus re-enacting the flaming sambuca 'dentist's chair' antics in a Hong Kong nightclub which had marred England's preparation for the tournament.

But that is Gascoigne. Irreverent and irresponsible. Compulsive and attention-seeking. And never far from his next crisis.

We can only hope he gets the proper advice and the right treatment this time.