Ally McCoist joined Brian Laudrup for a trip down memory lane, and attention turned - as it generally does - to Gazza.

The pair played with the mercurial England midfielder while at Glasgow Rangers, in a time of huge success for the Ibrox club.

But it was Gazza's off-field antics that often drew the eye, and McCoist told our Heineken Roadshow had a story in particular which he felt summed up Gascoigne as a man.

Ally McCoist on Gazza

"I think it sums Gascoigne up, really. He wasn't involved in the conversation at all in the dressing room - in fact, I think I was talking to wee Duranty [Ian Durrant] at the time.

"I just said that it was my son Alexander's birthday, he'd just turned three, and I said we were thinking of getting his birthday present and that he quite fancied a rabbit.

"It was just a throwaway line to Durranty."

'I see a pair of legs disappear over a wall'

Paul Gascoigne is swamped by England teammates after scoring their second goal in the Euro 96 clash against Scotland, at Wembley.

No line, it appears, is 'throwaway' around Paul Gascoigne.

"The very next day, I got up in the morning and I could just see a pair of legs disappear over the back of my garden wall.

"I lived in the next village to Gascoigne when he moved to Rangers, which was about three-and-a-half miles away, which I can reliably inform you is not enough distance for any man from Gascoigne!

"As I see this shape go over the wall, I looked into the garden and I couldn't believe what I saw.

"In the garden there was a goldfish bowl with two lovely goldfish in it, the food to look after them and instructions on how to feed them.

"Next to that, there was a magnificent budgie's cage, with a blue and a green budgie.

"Next to that, there was what I can only describe as the Buckingham Palace of rabbit hutches. This thing was magnificent! Inside of it was the most beautiful, white bunny rabbit.

"And just on top of the hutch, there was a card that said 'To Alexander, hope you have a lovely birthday, lots of love, Gazza,' and a big kiss on it."

McCoist and Laudrup

It was a gesture not lost on the McCoist family.

"I thought: it just sums him up. Absolutely amazing, just so thoughtful. As I said, he wasn't even involved in the conversation!"

Laudrup, too, was happy to hear that Gazza was in a place of relative serenity at the moment, as McCoist told of a pre-Euro 2020 interview with him.

"I think it's great to hear that you spoke to Gazza a few weeks back, and that he's in a good place.

"We all hope that he will stay like that because what a wonderful character he is, and what a wonderful human being he is."

The UEFA European Championships Roadshow on OTB Sports with Heineken – official beer partner of UEFA Euro 2020. Finally together to be rivals again. Drink responsibly, visit drinkaware.ie

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