Gascoigne had an awful game, typified by an incredible miscued pass that instead of finding goalkeeper Marlon Beresford arrived at the feet of Paul Peschisolido, who should have added to the great man's blushes.

Not helped by Burnley's use of a three-man midfield in the first-half, the game passed Gascoigne by and when he did see the ball he generally lost it again.

There was one flash of inspiration in the second half when he picked out striker David Johnson as only Gascoigne could.

Sadly for Burnley, Johnson, one of the few bright sparks on the day, miscontrolled and the chance of reducing a 2-0 deficit was gone.

Fitting finale

Gascoigne departed after 70 minutes to a standing ovation from all sides. We may knock our heroes but we also tend to respect them at the twilight of their careers.

Gascoigne has bounced back before and Saturday's game against Wolves at Turf Moor provides him with the perfect platform to prove the doubters wrong again.

It wasn't that long ago that he was being mentioned in England circles. Surely, even in Gascoigne's world, things don't change that quickly.

Burnley boss Ternent has placed his faith in his fellow Geordie. "He will be all right. I still say we will end up in the play-offs," he said.

Ternent doesn't get many things wrong.

For Gascoigne and football purists everywhere, I hope he's right. The Millennium Stadium would be a fitting finale, if that's what he wants.