Paul Scholes: Is Man Utd legend making an early impact at Oldham?

Scholes’ presence at Oldham is already being felt on the training ground, where he plays an active part in sessions.

“It’s only been a couple of days but if he really wanted to, he could probably still get a game,” said one first-team regular earlier this week of the former England and Manchester United midfielder.

And watching Scholes on Saturday, it still felt as though he would prefer to be playing.

Even as he watched the warm-up and spoke to the physios, the 44-year-old couldn’t help rolling one of the numerous yellow balls scattered around under his right foot, which for the best part of two decades wrecked such devastation on defences at home and abroad.

In truth, though, Scholes’ pre-match involvement was low key. Completely at home in surroundings he knows so well, the man Oldham’s matchday programme referred to as ‘The Gaffer’ had a long chat with injured defender Dan Gardner and happily posed for pictures in the executive bar area under the main stand.

Those who had arrived early at the ground hoping for such a moment with Scholes had been disappointed.

A handful of fans got to Boundary Park at 11.30am, but the new manager had beaten them to it. It wasn’t an exact science but as far as they could recall, it was the earliest an Oldham manager had arrived at the stadium for a Saturday game.

Once the game was under way, Scholes was a visible presence on the sidelines. One of his former team-mates, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, has limited his appearance in the technical area at Old Trafford since becoming Manchester United’s interim manager, but Scholes stood throughout. It felt somehow symbolic.

He didn’t rant at anyone. He did chunter at the fourth official on occasion but even that was limited, as were the hand movements that ushered his players into the areas where he believed they should be.

It was all very understated, as is the Scholes way, although the word from the dressing room is that messages are delivered with clarity.

“He is quite a calm guy,” said Oldham skipper Peter Clarke. “He doesn’t rant and rave but the players have been left in no doubt what he wants.

“He has told us how he wants us to play, the way he wants us to behave and the standards he sets.”

Forty-eight hours after the announcement that Scholes’ mentor Eric Harrison had died, Clarke revealed part of the new manager’s opening address had nothing to do with what happens on the pitch.

Instead, these were words Harrison, or Ferguson, would instantly identify with, about being a good human being.

“He told us that we have to treat everyone the same, from the cleaning staff to the chief executive and the owner,” said Clarke.

“There are plenty of people at the football club who quietly go about their business but he said everyone is working for the common theme.”