Scholes's Back?

Alex begged me to play... I’m shot

PAUL SCHOLES has revealed how he turned down Alex Ferguson's attempt to persuade him to postpone his retirement.

Manchester United boss Ferguson told his veteran midfielder he could still play up to 20 first-team games next campaign.
But the ex-England star told Fergie he felt his legs had gone towards the end of the season.
He announced at the end of May he was hanging up his boots after 676 appearances for United.
Scholes, 36, said: "I've had a lot of good years. I always felt I'd know when the time was right to call it a day and this year I felt it was.
"I made the decision. The manager felt I could do 15 or 20 games next season but I just felt the time was right. You can't go on for ever."
While the only club manager he has known was telling him one thing, Scholes' legs were saying another.
He admitted: "It wasn't hard to turn him down, I know how my body had felt.
"I wasn't feeling great in training or the games towards the end of the season.
"You're at a top club with the best players and you just have to realise your legs can't do what you want them to do.
"If you're going to be a part of this club you have to be available from the beginning and to be able to last 90 minutes.
"When I was starting games I didn't feel great. The best I felt was when I was playing the last 15 or 20 minutes and really that's not right."

Scholes has never been one for blowing his own trumpet but the likes of Zinedine Zidane and Xavi led the tributes to him.
Yet the United legend insists Ferguson will have no problem finding a replacement.
He said: "It's obviously nice for these players to say that because they really are the top players, the Zidanes and the Xavis. But you are a little bit embarrassed.
"Replacing me is up to the manager and he will have his ideas about how the team goes forward. There have been a lot of players who have left this club, like Roy Keane, Mark Hughes, Eric Cantona, Bryan Robson. People wondered how you replace them. Somehow this club managed."
Scholes will be honoured at a testimonial against Cantona's New York Cosmos in August. He hopes fans will remember him for his dazzling performances and crucial goals, rather than his lousy tackles.
He said: "I'm not too sure how they'll remember me. Maybe scoring goals, bad tackles. I don't know. With my tackling it wasn't red mist.

"I was genuinely trying to get the ball, most of the time. Towards the end of my career, when I went to tackle, there'd be a big shout from the crowd.
"The referee would respond, I'd make one tackle and get booked. That's why I got sent off a little bit more than I should have."
Scholes, who won 66 England caps, has accepted an invitation to join Fergie's coaching staff.