Manchester United legend Paul Scholes was named manager of Oldham Athletic yesterday, as reported by the BBC.
Scholes has signed an 18-month deal with the club he supports and has already expressed he feels he is taking over a squad which is capable of earning promotion into League 1.
One of the players in Scholes’ new ranks is United loanee Zak Dearnley, who joined Oldham on deadline day and has made an instant impact at his new employers.
Dearnley came off the bench to seal Oldham’s second goal in their 3-0 weekend away win against Crawley on Saturday, marking his first senior game by putting the ball in the back of the net.
After the game, he told the Latics’ official website: “It’s a great experience for me, my first professional league game and goal what more could you want? I loved it, every minute of it.
“I’ve gone on loan for the first time, I’ve not known anything else but Manchester United, so everything is a great experience. The club can go very far with us only being nine points off the play-offs now.”
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In much the same way that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s United connections have seen him put his faith in youth at Old Trafford, Scholes will likely be from the same school of thought.
He will likely be aware of Dearnley already and be keen to impart any wisdom that can help the forward succeed at Oldham in the short-term but also forge a career for himself at Old Trafford.
That faith and sounding board could well be invaluable for Dearnley as he embarks on his first departure from Old Trafford, and he should also have a manager now committed to playing football the right way.