The Facts about Paul Scholes

Paul Scholes! He scores goals!

Francis Lee, an extrovert who never stinted on the good things in life, paid one of the more extraordinary tributes to Scholes in the wake of defeat for his beloved City. Nor did he deliver it through gritted teeth. He said simply that, as far as he was concerned, you could keep Bryan Robson and Eric Cantona, Roy Keane, David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo, there was no doubt in his mind that Scholes had been the outstanding servant for United since the Holy Trinity of Law, Best and Charlton.

When Scholes was a mere 32, Charlton declared: "Watching Alex Ferguson build so many great teams has given us the chance to see so many great players like Roy Keane and Eric Cantona and Ryan Giggs, but I have to admit my favourite has always been Paul Scholes.

"I love his football intelligence and his conviction that he will always find a way to win. The more I have watched him the more I have felt, 'This boy is Manchester United through and through'. He's always on the ball, always turning on goal, always trying to bring other people into the action and if he ever loses the ball you have to suspect he is ill.

"I'm always disappointed when I don't see his name on the team sheet. His absence makes me feel despondent. I wonder who is going to do all that clever stuff that cuts up a defence."

You wonder, also, who will fight so hard to keep football at the centre of his life, who will most doggedly resist the temptations of the fast lane and the lure of mere celebrity over rock-hard achievement, and who, at an age when most leading players are consigned to the margins of the big league, will raise his fist to the heavens and say that maybe he has one great performance left.

There is one obvious candidate, of course. His name is Wayne Rooney and he can only benefit from seeing, up so close, what might turn out to be the most glorious of Last Hurrahs.