PAUL GASCOIGNE this morning finds himself on football's equivalent of Death Row, his future with Rangers - perhaps even as a footballer - uncertain and the hope of a reprieve contingent entirely upon convincing those who matter that he can stay out of trouble.

Soundings taken at Ibrox yesterday, in the wake of his alleged assault on his wife and his ordering off against Ajax in Amsterdam on Wednesday, revealed that the club have issued the erratic England midfielder with a final warning. He has also been fined for his misdemeanour in the Champions League game.

The Rangers manager, Walter Smith, was careful to avoid the trap of being seen to dwell solely on Gascoigne's on field indiscretion while ignoring the moral implications of his domestic situation. But he knows that the two are inextricably linked.

When Gascoigne was red carded in a European Cup match against Borussia Dortmund a year ago, it emerged that he was also going through turmoil in his private life. That dismissal, by the Spanish referee Manual Diaz Vega, brought the first hint of condemnation from Smith, who had been, until then, quite protective of the player. Now the manager believes the latest furore on two fronts is more than just coincidence.

Gascoigne may have become the first man on record to have made the front and back page leads in newspapers for two different controversies on the same day. It will not be allowed to happen again without his being shown the door at Ibrox. Even the fact that he is a mere 15 months into the three year contract he signed when he left Lazio for Ibrox at a cost of £4.3 million - would not save him.

Smith revealed that, contrary to rumour, Gascoigne has not asked for a transfer. Sources within the club said that if Gascoigne were leaving Rangers, he wouldn't have to ask he would be pushed.

Smith made clear his own tolerance threshold has now been reached when he said: "There has to be a limit to anybody's patience and understanding in these things. You can only go so far.

"After Gascoigne had been sent off last season and he went through a spate of bookings, I thought he had settled down and was handling things better. This season, since he recovered from the Achilles tendon injury he got in the early days of training, he hadn't been too bad, either, until he was sparked again on Wednesday night.

"In the light of that, there is always going to be a question of whether he can change. Nobody can possibly say it's not going to happen again."

Smith picked his words cautiously on the matter of Gascoigne's alleged assault on his wife, Sheryl, at the Gleneagles Hotel, Perthshire, last Sunday night.

It's a very difficult situation, being asked to comment on anybody's private life," he said. "I'm obviously disappointed for both of them that this has happened, but it's hard to judge what do in these matters.

"If the problems Paul's had off the field have led to a tension that's made it difficult for him to play and to being sent off, I have to look at the situation and talk with him to see if he can handle playing without overreacting in the manner in which he did on Wednesday."

At least Smith will not have the problem of deciding whether Gascoigne is mentally attuned to playing in the remaining three matches in Group A of the Champions League.

Having been ordered off on Wednesday by German referee Helmut Krug for violent conduct, UEFA's inevitable suspension will almost certainly encompass the rest of the series, against the Dutch champions at Ibrox on Wednesday week, Grasshoppers - also in Glasgow - on November 20th and Auxerre in France on December 4th.

Smith, however, does have a dilemma for the Scottish Premier Division match at home to Aberdeen tomorrow. His resources are so depleted by injury international midfielder Stuart McCall is the latest victim and will be missing for three weeks - that he would normally have little choice but to pick Gascoigne.

But local radio vox pops yesterday revealed that there is a groundswell of antipathy among Rangers supporters towards Gascoigne. Laddish misbehaviour is usually accepted as high jinks, but the stink of allegations of wife beating may offend even the bluest of noses.