Paul Scholes clashed with Ferguson, blew away Ronaldo and had an unlucky photo

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Paul Scholes called it a day on his glittering Manchester United career for the final time 10 years ago today, as the midfield maestro hung up his boots after two decades of dominating Premier League midfielders. The Englishman won the title an astonishing 11 times in addition to three FA Cups and two Champions Leagues, having been part of both the 1999 treble-winning side and the 2008 European conquerors. However, Scholes’ career has not been without its drama as Express Sport has looked at some of the controversial moments during his time at Old Trafford.

“P****d off” with Fergie

Scholes recently recalled the time that he thought his United career would be over shortly after it began after falling out with Sir Alex Ferguson, which led to him being fined after failing to turn up to a League Cup game. He later told The Overlap: “I did some stupid things when I was younger. He [Ferguson] left me out on the Sunday and I was p****d off.

“Most of the times when I was left out I knew the reason why, like I didn’t play well the week before. So, I could take that and I was fine. Some players can’t take it whether they’ve played badly or not. But I was just really p****d off he didn’t play me in that game. We were getting beat and weren’t playing very well and at half-time I thought he was going to bring me on, but he didn’t.

“We were meeting at Stockport that night at the train station. I actually drove to the train station and told him I wasn’t going. It was crazy, stupid, but my head had gone. After that game, it was an international break, so it went on and on, and on.

“It didn’t carry on but he fined me a weeks’ wages. There was no contact because I was with England, so I had to wait 10 days before I spoke to him. He didn’t get mad but he just fined me two weeks’ wages. I apologised but I didn’t think I would survive after that to be honest. I thought I would be gone, yes.”

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Blowing away Cristiano Ronaldo

Scholes was once said to have shown up a young Cristiano Ronaldo, who was showcasing his skills when the midfielder accurately pointed out a tree in the distance before accurately picking it out to the astonishment of his team-mates. The tale, however, is likely more myth than fiction but similar stories did arise between the pair.

Rio Ferdinand opened up on another moment at Carrington. Regarding Scholes, Ferdinand recalled: “He’ll do ridiculous things in training like say, ‘You see that tree over there?’ – it’ll be 40 yards away – ‘I’m going to hit it’.”

Ronaldo likely will have been in attendance for many of Scholes’ pings, while the United and Real Madrid legend once admitted that he would have been an “imbecile” not to learn from the likes of Scholes during his early days at Old Trafford.

“If you’ve got a little intelligence, you look and take example from those who are doing things better than you,” Ronaldo once told France Football. “That’s what I did when I was in Manchester with Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Rio Ferdinand… if you don’t learn from guys like that, you’re an imbecile. The goal isn’t to imitate but to take aspects from those who are the best and adapt it to your own personality. That’s what I did. I had some talent and I watched them.”

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Unfortunate photo-op

Few will be able to forget the notorious Scholes photo after sliding to make a challenge in the 1990s but was captured with his unmentionables in an offside position, an unfortunate picture that still makes its mark on social media and he will be unable to live down.

He is not the first footballer to have his private parts on show for the world thanks to an inopportune photographer, but it will be one of the moments Scholes would likely hope to forget from his illustrious career.

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