“I don’t fall for that” – Keane shatters illusion of Scholes behind the scenes

Paul Scholes will forever be remembered as one of the greats of the English game.

Scholes won countless trophies at Manchester United – including 11 Premier League titles and two Champions Leagues – and played in several great teams under Sir Alex Ferguson. His passing and technical ability was rivalled by few of his contemporaries.

One of the magic midfielder’s most admirable qualities was his perceived humbleness. He was viewed as a shy lad who grew up on a council estate in Greater Manchester and was not bothered about football’s bright spotlight. Scholes just wanted to get on with the game… or at least that is what we all thought.

His reserved image was relayed by his former team-mate Phil Neville in the film Class of ’92 . Neville said: “He goes back in his Batcave, in his room, with his packet of wine gums, his [Galaxy] Minstrels, his M&Ms – whatever he has – [and] watches his telly.”

Scholes even added: “All I wanted to do was play football and I never realised all that side [the media and pressures of fame] came with it, really.”

Yet Roy Keane, who captained Scholes for many years, revealed a different side to the Englishman in his 2015 autobiography The Second Half . Keane wrote: “Scholesy was a top, top player but I still don’t fall for the boy next door image. Or that he’s dead humble. He has more of an edge to him. Everyone thinks he lives in a council flat.

The “edge” Keane is referring to was also discussed in Ferguson’s 2013 autobiography. He wrote: “I will always remember Paul Scholes’ first day at our club. He came in with a little guy called Paul O’Keefe. His father, Eamonn, had played at Everton. They were standing behind Brian Kidd, who had told me he was bringing in two lads he liked the look of.

“They were 13. ‘Where are these two young kids?’ I asked Brian. They were so small they were invisible behind Brian’s frame. They were about four feet eight inches tall. I looked at this tiny pair and thought; ‘How are these two going to become footballers?’

“It became a standing joke at our club. When Scholesy came into the youth team, I said, in the coaches’ room: ‘That Scholes has got no chance. Too small.'”

As well all know, Scholes went on to become one of United’s greatest ever players – making more than 700 appearances for the club. Another aspect to the midfielder’s personally was his mischievousness, as he would ping balls at players in training when they turned their backs. That was light work for Scholes, who was blessed with two great feet.

Scholes said in the Class of ’92 : “One day I did catch Phil Neville with a beauty, actually. It was 60 yards away, right on the other side of the pitch. I think he was doing a bit of extra running after training… I’ve smacked the ball and it’s just hit him full on the head.

“He’s gone down eating grass and everything. We [me and team-mates] were just on the floor p****** ourselves and he didn’t have a clue which one of us it was. It was one of them perfect movements… I just saw that as a bit of passing practice, really.”

Perhaps we will never discover the real Scholes. As Phil Neville once said, “It’s hard to explain Scholesy because there’s probably three or four different sides to him.”