Scholes to retire?

By: Shaun | February 27th, 2011

scholes The word coming out of OT is that our Ginger Price remains reluctant to sign the extension being offered to him. It appears that for Scholesy, it’s all or nothing. As per SAF, if Scholes can’t contribute at a high level (play most of the games), then he won’t be coming back and this would be his farewell season. Since nothing is confirmed yet, this post won’t be a tribute to Scholes etc. That’ll happen once we get the official word, be it this season or next.

What I did want to do (since our midfield has become somewhat of an obsession to United fans everywhere this year) is to look at who we would have for next season should Scholes call it a day and the rumored personnel clearout happens.

ASSUMPTIONS:
1. Scholes retires
2. Gibson, Carrick, Hargo are let go.
3. Obertan and Bebe are loaned out/released

That leaves us with:
Anderson, Giggs, Park, Nani, Fletcher, Valencia, Cleverley.

7 midfielders that are almost certain to be part of our squad for next season. Out of those 7, 3 are almost exclusively wide players (Nani, Valencia and Park). Giggs and Cleverley can play out wide if necessary, which leaves us with only Anderson and Fletcher in the middle of the park.

If the above scenario plays out, SAF will have to sign a couple of players to reinforce our midfield. Unless we see a mass promotion of Pogba, Morrison, Norwood and Tunnicliffe to the senior side on a regular basis, we will finally get what we’ve been asking for all this time.

Either way, it’s a win win situation. The major disenchantment among fans has been the constant inclusion of players like Gibson in our squad at the expense of new signings or the development of younger players. At this point, there are many fans who would rather see the gaffer giving Pogba or Morrison a run out with the first team instead of persisting with the perpetually inconsistent/one dimensional Gibson.

macheda SAF knows full well the importance of a deep squad if we are to challenge on all fronts. What appears just as promising are the number of forwards we have on our roster heading into next season (assuming Micky Owen is let go): Rooney, Berbatov, Chicharito, King, Welbeck, Macheda, Diouf.

We won’t be keeping all 7 of the above on our books for next season. Aside from King, who hasn’t had too much of a sniff with the first team, the others have performed well in their time with the club or on loan. Surely, whichever of that group that SAF deems to be expendable can be parlayed as a makeweight in a deal for a quality midfielder. Macheda to a Serie A club in exchange for a tough tackling midfielder (not named Aquilani) or Welbeck to a PL side in exchange for a young upcoming England talent (you make your own guesses here) perhaps?

Of course, this is all contingent on Scholes retiring AND all the deadweight being cleared out. If none of that happens, then all the above is pure conjecture and nothing more. Even worse, we’ll have another season of this to look forward to:
gibson4

Some Related Man United Posts:

« Doing just enough (vs Wigan) | Home | Lineup vs Chelsea »

miele

Sorry, cant really focus on this issue as there;s the small matter of a game at SB coming up in a few hours....
orthodoxyordeath

Chelsea fan here, just wanted to say, I really respect Giggs, Neville and Scholes have done over the years. It'll be a real shame if and when the man retires.
John

It will be a shame if they let Scholes go in my opinion, i reckon he still has some good games in him!
MAL DONAGHY

Retire now you ginger fool you are years past your sell by date a redhead with a small penis!