“I have just been unlucky.” Those were the words of Paul Scholes when informed of his unwanted accolade of being named the third most-booked player in Premier League history.
On paper you might just think that the newly retired midfielder made those comments with his tongue firmly in his cheek, but Scholes is insistent that his poor tackling has never been malicious, simply poor timed.
Pull the other one.
The debate has almost become a regular fixture on MOTD over the years, and Sky Sport’s pundit Jamie Rednapp is always banging on about how dirty Paul Scholes is.
It’s a point of interest that’s popped up every time the United midfielder received one of his 90 Premier League yellow cards, and more often than not people have given him the benefit of the doubt.
The reason people do this is presumably because he is a model professional, a throw-back to the footballers of old who cared little for the glitz and glamour of the lifestyle, a player that simply wants to play football.
The fact that he is such a naturally gifted footballer helps his cause greatly. Scholes is the kind of great player that any fan would be happy to pay their money to go and see, a different kind of player to the one we grew to love in his prime, but a player with the talent to spot a pass through the eye of a needle. A footballing genius.
But let’s be honest, footballing genius’ are far from exempt from the hate mob – Cristiano Ronaldo is a prime example. Indeed I believe a major reason that Scholesy is so well liked outside of United is more than likely due to the fact that he is English.
If he was say, Welsh, then he would probably be one of the most hated players in the country. Just ask Robbie Savage, the Welshman that Scholes pipped to third place in the Premierships all-time bad-boy league, and was one of the Premiership’s most hated players.
Miraculously the ginger ninja has somehow maintained his reputation throughout career but lets not beat about the bush here, he was one hell of a dirty b*****d. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t believe that he ever went into tackles looking to injure them, *cough* Roy Keane *cough*, he just wanted to make damn sure he left his mark.
And there is a very large pool of opponents who Scholes most definitely left his mark on, City’s Zabaleta for one. Try telling him that Scholes isn’t a filthy player.
