Scholes has his moment in the spotlight
-
Scholes has his moment in the spotlight - it's 600 up for the red-top talisman
Red flair: Paul Scholes could be joining United¿s 600 club on Wednesday night.
As he approaches his 600th appearance for Manchester United tonight, no one will be less inclined to celebrate the occasion than Paul Scholes himself.
Personal accolades have never meant much to the shy, flame-haired kid from Salford's Langley estate who has eschewed the celebrity culture more than any other player of his generation.
Clubbing into the early hours? No thank you. Photoshoots for a glossy magazine? Not a chance. Scholes prefers the quiet life with his wife Claire and their three children in Saddleworth Moor, near Oldham. Nike might pay him a great deal to wear their merchandise, but they know better than to ask him to make a public appearance.
'It's agony trying to get him to a press conference or to do anything for UEFA in the Champions League,' admits his club manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
Do not expect him to milk the moment if Ferguson hands him that landmark appearance against Portsmouth at Old Trafford tonight. At 34, he is unlikely to reach 688 games and challenge Bill Foulkes for third place on the club's all-time list, but Ferguson knows Scholes's true value to his success at Old Trafford.
'Considering he's had three or four long injuries in his career, it's great,' said Ferguson. 'He's probably missed over a year of football, so that would have put him nearer 700.
High praise: Sir Alex Ferguson rates Scholes as one of the best of his generation.
'In my time, he would sit in the top six or seven players. He could have played in any league in Europe. Maybe he's had private approaches, people begging him to join them, but funnily enough we've never had one inquiry for Paul. You know why? Because they all know he'd never leave.'
Mike Coffey, a former United scout who taught Scholes, believes the midfielder could join Oldham if he calls time on his United career when his contract runs out next year.
Scholes grew up an Athletic fan and needed convincing to join the likes of David Beckham, Nicky Butt and the Neville brothers at Old Trafford. Ferguson's former right-hand man Brian Kidd liked what he saw and told United youth coach Eric Harrison: 'He's only tiny, he's got ginger hair and you'll probably have a giggle, but he can't half play!'
Scholes has matured into the finest of United's golden generation, blessed with such a magnificent passing range, eye for goal and fearsome shot that it was perhaps asking too much he should master tackling, too. When Beckham moved to Real Madrid he discovered his former United team-mate was the man admired most by the Galaticos. Zinedine Zidane said: 'My toughest opponent? Scholes. He is undoubtedly the greatest player of his generation.'
Thierry Henry is a fan, too. 'Without any doubt the best player in the Premiership has to be Scholes,' he said. 'He knows how to do everything.'
As well as suffering from asthma, his career was in doubt three years ago when an eye condition resulted in blurred vision and he was out for months.
There was also a rare fall-out with Ferguson in 2001 when he was fined £80,000 for refusing to play in a weakened team, a suspension that ruled him out of the 1999 Champions League final and his controversial decision to quit international football at the age of 29.
Steve McClaren and Fabio Capello both failed to make him change his mind.
'I'm happiest with my family and being in Manchester,' he said recently. 'Giving that up to go back playing international football again isn't something I'd think about doing.' It is that simple. Six hundred will be little more than a number to Paul Scholes.
-
legend
-
paul scholes,a real gem!!pls retired his number along wth giggs n roy keanie n van der sar n gary neville n ferdinandn rooney n ronaldo ect