Paul Scholes has found himself in a public spat with Martin Keown over the potential repercussions relating to Manchester City's titles. The ex-Manchester United midfielder desires to claim a championship medal for the 2011/12 season and is firmly against the idea of simply invalidating that campaign.
This disagreement follows Manchester City’s conviction on 114 out of 115 charges concerning Premier League financial rule breaches, with the club staunchly rejecting all allegations and already initiating an appeal.
In the ensuing discussions about the possible revocation of titles, Scholes had previously stated:
I keep hearing former teammates say the trophies should be taken away, yet they don’t seem interested in the medals themselves. To hell with that, I’m a greedy git — I want my medal.
Keown does not share Scholes’ viewpoint. The former Arsenal defender believes that if City’s titles from that period are annulled, they should not be redistributed to other teams.
Keown remarked:
How many more medals does Scholes need? He already has a whole heap.
I can’t dictate to him how to behave or what to think. But personally, I think that season should just be voided. If Manchester City have their trophies taken, they should be deemed invalid.
Insider Simon Jordan also took issue with Scholes, suggesting his provocative comments might be a ploy for his podcast.
In response, Scholes fired back at both. To Jordan, he stated:
Whose cow is mooing now, Simon?
And separately directed his ire at Keown:
You can take your nonsense about a nullified season and shove it.
Scholes is not the only former Manchester United player weighing in on the possibility of adding to their collection of championship medals. David De Gea has questioned how many Premier League titles he could end up with, while Rio Ferdinand has also commented on the potential for expanding his trophy haul.
Scholes himself has secured the Premier League title 11 times, with his last triumph coming in the 2012/13 season — Sir Alex Ferguson's final year in charge at Manchester United.
