Rake over old Scholes
Outspoken Oldham Athletic manager puts himself in firing line
Iwant them to enjoy and express themselves and the way you do that is by scoring goals,” said Paul Scholes on Tuesday.
That could have been criticism of his former club, Manchester United, indeed it sounded much like what Scholes had offered up during the tenure of Jose Mourinho.
It would have been fair again on Tuesday for the only team he played for during a 20year career as they had just lost at home to Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Champions League, the Parisians leaving Old Trafford with a 2-0 first-leg win.
Scholes was not watching, though. Instead he was 10 miles away at Boundary Park taking charge of his first game as manager of Oldham Athletic, the team he used to shout on from the terraces.
Scoring goals is exactly what Scholes’ Latics side did for their fans on Tuesday night, beating Yeovil Town 4-1 and leaping three places to 11th in the League Two table in the process.
When Scholes, now 44, was watching Oldham as a youngster they were about as far away from Tuesday night games against Yeovil as could be.
Oldham were one of the founding members of the English Premier League in the 1992-93 season, while it would be a decade before the Glovers gained promotion to the Football League by winning the fifth-tier Conference.
Hard times
Times have been hard in the intervening years. While Manchester United, with Scholes playing a key part, were dominating domestically under Alex Ferguson, Oldham slipped down the divisions.
The Latics – who took Manchester United to a replay in the FA Cup semifinal in 1993-94 – left the rarified air of the Premier League at the end of its second season that same year, and then dropped down to the third tier three seasons later.
There they stayed until the end of last season when they were relegated to the fourth tier of English football for the first time since the 1970-71 season.
This is where Scholes finds himself finally taking his first steps into management.
“The time is right,” he said at his introductory press conference on Monday. He had been expected to take the role for some time having been linked with the vacancy in October 2017 before another former United midfielder, Richie Wellens, took it.
Scholes knows that there will be scrutiny upon him, even in this first managerial appointment, because of his role as a pundit since hanging up his boots.
His criticism of Jose Mourinho, the previous manager at Old Trafford, was likened to the effect of one of his famously mistimed tackles in his playing days.
Then again, for those who have seen the effect Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has had at Old Trafford since replacing the Portuguese, it could as easily be argued that again, like his playing days, it was just a case of Scholes seeing things before others.
Scholes admitted his own criticism as a pundit had left him “wide open” to criticism of his own management and Mourinho, now out of management since leaving Old Trafford and soon to start as a pundit on his own show on Russia Today, was mentioned at the press conference.
“I think he will be watching results,” Scholes said. “Whether he will be watching the games I am not too sure.”
It is unclear what Mourinho was doing on Tuesday as Scholes took over his first game but he would have found little to fault in a 4-1 win.
Maybe management will be easy as playing for a footballer who has made the third most appearances for Manchester United and won 25 trophies including 11 Premier League titles in that time.
While often the most vocal, Scholes was not the only trophy-laden former Ferguson player to criticize Mourinho.
The “kings of rock ‘n’ roll” was how the former Special One referred to Scholes and former teammates Ryan Giggs and the Neville brothers, Gary and Phil.
With Scholes now at Oldham, each of them has put themselves in the firing line by entering management.
Gary Neville took over at Spanish La Liga side Valencia in December 2015 and lasted until the following March. He has not been back in the dugout.
Brother Phil was already in the dugout at the Mestalla before Gary arrived having been assistant to Nuno Espirito Santo and he saw the season out after Gary left.
Now he is manger of the England women’s national team and will lead the Lionesses to the World Cup in France this summer.
Giggs, who had been part of the backroom staff under David Moyes and Louis Van Gaal at Old Trafford, has also eschewed dropping down the leagues in order to take the helm for Wales.
As it stands, Scholes is the only player getting his hands dirty in a profession that prizes experience in handing out the biggest roles.
Long way to go
Mourinho had said that Scholes will go down “in history as a phenomenal player, not as a pundit.”
“If Paul one day decides to be a manager I wish that he can be 25 percent as successful as myself,” Mourinho said in January 2018.
“Fifty percent of that is 12.5 silverware. 25 percent is around six. If he’s 25 percent he will be quite happy.”
The first of those could be winning the League Two Playoff final but there are 15 more games to go for Oldham before the end of the regular season and seeing who makes it into the playoff spots.
Scholes knows there is a long way to go, and was not getting carried away after Tuesday’s win.
“It was nice, but it’s just a start. That’s all it is,” he told local media after the game. “I know there are tougher tests ahead, starting with Saturday against Crewe.”