Former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes has been cleared by the English Football League to become the manager of League Two side Oldham Athletic, and he could soon take over from Academy boss Pete Wild, who has been in charge since Frankie Bunn’s sacking late December.
The 44-year-old comes across as a quiet fella, and many, including his former United teammate Paul Ince are surprised that he is set to go into management given how life in the dugout is.
Scholes has enjoyed success as a pundit since retiring in 2013, but he is looking to make a big career move, and Ince can’t believe it given how quiet he was and uninterested in football he seemed back in the day.
“From myself, to Kenny, to Bruce, to Mark Hughes down to Ferguson, I can never ever envisage seeing Scholesy as a manager,” Ince said on BBC 5 Live Sport
“He was probably one of the quietest people…great great player, world class. One of the best players I played with, but he was quiet, it was like he didn’t like football.
“It was like it was a job to him. That’s the way it comes across. For him to be in the dugout at that level…When you look at people like Frankie Lampard going to Derby, Stevie G (Gerrard) going to Rangers, and then you’ve got Paul Scholes going to Oldham Athletic? It doesn’t make sense, but I wish him all the best. It’s going to be a tough journey for him.”
"Scholsey was so quiet, it was like he didn't like football"@PaulInce is surprised Paul Scholes has gone into management at @OfficialOAFC ?
Do you think the former England midfielder will make a good manager?
?⚽https://t.co/0kUniWPgQm pic.twitter.com/FWVRZwtI6X
— BBC 5 Live Sport (@5liveSport) February 8, 2019
Oldham are currently 15th in the League Two table and 11 points off the playoff places having won 10, drawn nine and lost 10 of 29 league games so far, and with 15 games still to go, Scholes will be looking to help guide the club he followed as a boy to League One promotion once he assumes duty as manager.
Out of the famous Manchester United class of ’92 (David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Phil Neville, Scholes and Gary Neville.), only Beckham and Scholes are yet to go into management, with the other four already with some level of experience.
It’ll be interesting to see how the imminent Oldham gaffer fares when his stint in the dugout begins, though.
United fans will hope it’s not as brief as that of Gary at Valencia, and just maybe Scholes will be able to shock Ince the more by doing extremely well at his new job.
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