Paul Scholes regrets sharing Jesse Lingard conversation on Manchester United’s ‘disaster’ of a dressing room

The former Manchester United midfielder was working as a pundit on international TV after the 3-1 defeat to Arsenal when he revealed the conversation with Lingard

Jamie Braidwood
Tuesday 26 April 2022 08:09 EDT
Comments
Scholes was working as pundit when he appeared to land Lingard in hot water
Scholes was working as pundit when he appeared to land Lingard in hot water (Getty Images)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Paul Scholes has said he regrets disclosing a conversation he had with Jesse Lingard in which the Manchester United midfielder admitted the dressing room culture at Old Trafford was a “disaster”.

Scholes was working as a pundit on international TV on Saturday after United’s 3-1 defeat to Arsenal when he revealed a comment from Lingard that painted a damning picture of the Manchester United squad.

Scholes said: “I had a quick chat with Jesse [Lingard] the other day - I’m sure he won’t mind me saying. He said, ‘The dressing room is just a disaster’.”

The comments were then put to Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick after the defeat, which all but ruled out any hope the club have of finishing in the top four and qualifying for the Champions League.

“I don’t know, you have to ask Jesse Lingard if you have this information,” Rangnick said. “I’m not daring to say they get on well with each other but I don’t see that there is an issue with regard to the atmosphere in the locker room.”

With Manchester United under pressure following defeats to Liverpool and Arsenal last week, Scholes has admitted the conversation with Lingard should have remained private and has spoken to the 29-year-old after appearing to land him in hot water.

“I’ve had a little bit of stick for that,” Scholes told TalkSport. “I don’t know why I did it! Honestly, sometimes words just come out your mouth.

“I have spoken to him since and probably best I don’t tell you what he said.”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in