Soccer

Scholes invited to Old Trafford after quitting at Oldham Athletic

Solskjær says he is open to former teammate spending a few days at the training ground

Paul Scholes, who resigned as Oldham Athletic manager by text after just 31 days in the job. Photograph: Robbie Jay Barratt/AMA/Getty Images

Jamie Jackson
Fri Mar 15 2019 - 22:30

Ole Gunnar Solskjær has offered Paul Scholes an invitation to Manchester United after his former teammate resigned as Oldham Athletic manager after only 31 days.

Scholes left the job on Thursday, citing disillusionment with his working conditions. “He’s invited here if he wants to come and have a little chat about it,” Solskjær said. “We’ve texted. It didn’t work out – that’s just management.”

Solskjær would be open to Scholes being around the training ground for a number of days. “You see ex-players coming in and if they want to learn, if they want to stay for a few days, a week – because Kieran [McKenna] , Michael [Carrick], Demps [Mark Dempsey] and even in the academy there’s so many good coaches. I know when I was away [from the club] that I would have loved to come in and maybe do some study visits but I had work so I didn’t get the chance to do it.”

United's interim manager, who was at the club with Scholes for more than a decade, made his remarks shortly before Oldham's owner, Abdallah Lemsagam, said Scholes resigned by text and had "refused to discuss matters that influenced him to make his decision".

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Misled

Scholes claimed he was misled over the amount of control he would be allowed and did not find it possible to work as he intended.

Lemsagam, a former agent, said: “I am disappointed by Paul’s decision to resign and surprised by the reasons he has given in his statement. Both myself and the staff at the club gave Paul all the support and autonomy that he asked for. I personally was always supportive of any decisions Paul made or consulted me on, reassuring him that he was the man in charge.

“He gave no opportunity or indications that he needed to address any issues at all . . . I was very surprised as he simply resigned by text on Wednesday afternoon.”

You're always measured on results but we played a good game against Arsenal

Solskjær's focus turns next to Saturday's FA Cup tie at Wolverhampton Wanderers after a first domestic defeat, at Arsenal last Sunday. He said there was comfort to be taken from United's performance at the Emirates Stadium.

‘It hurts’

“It’s so strange, the Arsenal one – I’m very disappointed in the result, it hurts more than anything. But it’s not like we can’t look at the performance and say we were shit because we weren’t. You’re always measured on results but we played a good game against Arsenal – we have played so much worse and won games.”

Solskjær's injury concerns could be eased for the Cup quarter-final. "[Romelu] Lukaku had a sore foot this week – he's being assessed. Phil Jones is back. Anthony [Martial] is back, Ander [Herrera] has been training, Jesse [Lingard] has been training and we've got a decision to make on who's match fit."

– Guardian

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