SCHOLES SET TO BOSS OLDHAM
United legend joins England pal Sol in League Two
Paul SCHOLES is expected to sign an 18-month contract to become oldham athletic’s new manager. The Manchester united legend has previously held talks with his boyhood club but feels the time is now right to take the management plunge.
Barring any last- minute hitches, the deal is likely to be finalised in the next 10 days.
Scholes will join former england team-mate Sol campbell, now in charge at Macclesfield, in league Two.
owner abdallah lemsagam, who competed a protracted takeover in January, has been calling the shots at the club since the start of last season.
In that period three managers have come and gone and oldham have suffered relegation to the fourth tier.
The Premier league founder members, now 12th in the table, sacked Scholes’s boyhood hero Frankie Bunn over christmas and youth coach Pete Wild has been in temporary charge since.
Despite the absence of a permanent manager, three players have been signed this month — a French midfielder, a Spanish striker and a Martinique-born defender.
aside from Danish keeper Daniel Iversen, on loan from leicester city, six of the starting XI who lost 2-1 at lowly Macclesfield on Saturday are thought to be players identified and signed by lemsagam from overseas.
Wild has won three of his five matches in charge — including the 2-1 Fa cup shock at Fulham earlier this month.
Scholes, 44, who lives in oldham and applied for the job when it was given to Richie Wellens last year, is believed to be fully aware of the situation at the club and will reassess his position at the end of the season. The BT pundit, who is from nearby Middleton, has been left kicking his heels and is very keen to enter the world of management.
The move raises questions over the ex-england man’s involvement at National league Salford city, where he is a co- owner with fellow class of ‘92 members and Singaporean businessman Peter lim. Should they gain promotion to the same division as oldham, Scholes would have to drop his interest in the ambitious National league outfit.