Paul Scholes has never been a man to seek out the limelight, preferring to let his work on the pitch be his almost sole communication with the wider public. So when Gary Neville and Sky Sports interviewed the soon to be retired midfielder we were afforded a rare chance to see the famously shy Scholes talking on camera for more than the briefest of moments, and admitting he was delighted he announced his retirement in the same week as Sir Alex Ferguson and while the media’s attention was focused on the Wayne Rooney transfer story.

Scholes announced his retirement at 10 o’clock on Saturday evening, affording his own departure s much fanfare as we could have expected. Neville, having played with Scholes for so many years, had the advantage of being able to relax Scholes and get him talking in a way most football fans will find a little strange.