Paul Scholes & Nicky Butt Open Up On Their Childhood, How They Got Scouted & Dressing Room Secrets!

28:07Paddy McGuinness:It's a choice you make early on in your life. You can stay there and you can be the big fish in a little bowl and be the superstar around there and everyone will idolise you and he's coming down. But if you really want to be successful, especially with the kind of upbringing we have with the minds you have, you've got to just move out of there. Yeah, I had to move out really. there's no way I could have carried on doing what I was doing no chance once you get to 18, 19 all of a sudden you get a bit sensible like you said the manager said buy a house girlfriend, wife kids I remember I got an apartment in Manchester I mean you know you do some stupid things and I think I lived in it for about two months and I got told right sell that get out there and luckily I got rid of it dead quick because I bought a different house from the same company anyway I don't know typical me I went from here from zero to a thousand I thought right I'm going to show you how serious I'm about playing football for Man United I'm going to sell that apartment in town and I moved out in the sticks got two dogs I was living I had three acres around me I was just sat there like that I was about I think I was about 21 in this big massive field bored out of my head anyway I sold that I was about eight hours from the age of 18 to 21 because I didn't know where I wanted to live and I ended up moving where I am now and I've been there ever since are you still in the same place So I moved over to where I am now.

29:28Paddy McGuinness:Still in Garton. We're about 24. Bloody hell. I don't have stayed in the area. That's nice. What age were you when you two were first scouted then? I was like 14, I think. Brian Kidd and Nobby Starr played in a school final. At Mersibank, was it called? St. Bede's it was. Do you ever get word that they're there? Or is it just a surprise? No, no idea. Well, Brian Kidd was presenting the trophies. The trophy at the end of it, it's like the Catholic Cup final. I think it was called like a big so if he hadn't agreed to do the trophies that day he might never have seen you play possibly yeah fucking hell it's that sliding doors thing isn't it I was 11 and I went with my mate from school Marvin and what it was back then they weren't low as a scout so they had relationships with the sports or the headmaster of the schools and they'd say send your best two players I forgot that so you go I went up Paddy there must have been a thousand kids there and you're thinking I don't know ever gonna get spotted and i was tiny when i was a kid and i've still got mom still got a letter now so i got a letter back saying oh we really like nicky but um at the minute he's not the profile that we're looking for he's too small dad and we'll keep an eye on him and i wasn't even bothered because i never expected to get into man united it was a dream that you never thought you're gonna get so i was like oh it's what it is i'm having to do you get in no i didn't get in either so all right here's what it is and then the year later i would have been 12 just going to high school and um harry mcshane who's ian ian mcshane the actor loved joy loved joy it's his dad harry mcshane was my scout no way scouted me and then obviously kiddo came on scene and that that was it from the age of 12 yeah when you say that we had an english teacher mr coffee who was a scout for united as well so like three of all of us went down yeah they all got paid a little bit yeah yeah it's really i think it's interesting what you were just saying then about uh that letter and you're like, oh, I'm not arsed.

31:20Probably that's that almost that freedom you've give yourself then probably helped you to get spotted because if you would have been absolutely broken by that and thinking and what can I do, it might have affected you more.

31:34Paddy McGuinness:I think the good thing as Goldie touched on it there was the good thing with the scouting department we had at United at the time was very much five people. Brian Kidd, Les Kershaw and one or two other random is that just you don't really know what they were always got eyes on you and I think any kid that goes to a one-off trial it's impossible especially who is a bit unassuming like me it was it's really difficult you realise that you're nowhere near the level I mean some of these the early developers look like men who've got a beard they're 14 they'd batter you I was like that's gorgeous he was tiny but we had a really kiddo wanted local lads above anybody and he was brilliant for us and he didn't just watch you once he'd watch you seven, eight times so you'd be judged over maybe ten games twelve games and then you'd get brought in and when you got an eye on you with sixteen players it's a lot easier than to go on to a football pitcher and I'm not exaggerating when I say it there must have been two hundred kids there when I went to that first one it's virtually impossible unless you're Usain Bolt's running at really strong and athletic you're not generally going to get picked up at twelve at two hundred people because no one's looking at his technique no one's looking at his brain you look at someone who's going to run through six people bars four out of the way and smash me in the top corner yeah so we was very or i was very fortunate with the skyting mechanism that we had around us to get there and i got there and then as i said we had to train on a thursday night one night a week not like like now where they're there three nights a week i'd have got bored out of my head doing that yeah we'd go one night a week you'd be there for an hour and you'd play on a saturday but you still go and play for your school team you go and play for your club team we had boundary and you have all different ways of learning so at school school's probably the same I'd probably score three or four goals it was easy it was by far the best player so you're learning little things like individual skills it was so easy then you go and play for Manchester Boys which is a little level up again but you're always still probably the best player there but you're learning different skills about playing team games then you go to United and I swear it's a total different feel you've got Ryan Giggs or Ryan Wilson at the time was there you'd have Bex there Scolesy there Gary Neville there Keith Gillespie Ben Thorne all top and you're thinking I'm probably middle of the road here and you do so you're learning now with academy football and then three times a week I'm not sure I would have been anywhere near the player that I've been I got bored I think it's a good point to know that because we weren't really aware of scouts coming now kids are desperate kids are desperate for it parents are a nightmare kids now they go to a different club every night yeah do you know what else happened sorry Scores to interrupt you there is Scores you didn't know a scout was there now And now they get put into a corner in like a roped off area with like 10 of them with the pads out, with the badge of whoever, the kit of whoever they're going to be scouting for.

34:22Paddy McGuinness:The kids are just watching the corner. I see it in my own eyes. It reminds me of when I was growing up or when I was working there. You put them into a paddock and the kids know it. They could count how many Man United or City or Blackburn or Bolton. Scouts are there. It must be so horrible for young kids to get in. I don't agree with that. It's quite a clever way to do it and going back to kiddo because I think Sir Alex put Kiddo in charge of it because City were getting all the best kids around our age, weren't they? So he said, right, come on, we need to find a way. And getting into school, so you look back now, getting into a school teacher, it's got to be the best, hasn't it?

34:54Yeah, because they're senior every day.

34:56Paddy McGuinness:And do you want to know something else about that as well, which is very clever, is they were never allowed to wear the Man United bench coach, not the big warm football coach. Yeah, so you don't know. So you wouldn't know who they are. Yeah. So you're not looking at them like that, not listening to your coach or not trying to... Yeah, we didn't have a clue. Just looking at them. Nowadays, you see them, little tiddlers, and they're playing football and all they do is looking at their dad going like that going all aggressive because he's checking out the fact that he wasn't good enough to play football so now he wants his son to play football he's just he's deflecting you see their dad's walking around all the scouts that's my lad I see and they're looking at their dad and then they're looking at the scout and the poor kids enjoying themselves I've seen something that I've it's like child abuse I was waiting outside a football once dropping Ruben off at the cliff you know the hill at the cliff I shit you not it's a true story I seen a bloke get out of the car I've got my cap on so he didn't recognise me he got his kid out of the car the kid's doing shuttle runs up and down the hill getting warmed up outside the cliff outside the cliff up at the hill where the digs used to be warming up before training and I'm going that poor kid it wasn't Gary Neville was it that poor kid Gary and Phil that poor kid is going to be poor kid was probably 10 or 11 at a time he's going to be fed up of football by the time he gets to 16 yeah we'd train like I say for an hour once a week and it was brilliant Paddy I swear it was the best feeling ever they're like professional footballers at six years of age you wonder why they're 15 and bored of it they get to 16 before they leave school they're due a testimonial because they've been at Man United I'm not joking they've been at Man United or whatever club from the age of six seven they've been there ten years before they even leave school and I think what you're both saying about how you were scouted and not having that pressure if you're not everyone would it's like if you're going for an audition you know there's a producer or whatever you're going to perform differently as you would with your friends and what have you and I think that freedom when you're a child and you're developing is so crucial like when you were just telling me then about the scouts all being in a paddock honestly my stomach were in knots I just I could feel how anxious those kids are because you are going to do you're not going to play your game you're going to try something different which isn't your game and you're going to look even worse and then if you're in it from such an early age never mind football ability your mind's probably just going I've had enough of this I've had enough of pressure but it's not the club none of the club's faults because the clubs have got to do it because if you're the only club that's not doing it everyone else is getting all the players and you're missing out you're answerable to the board saying why are they getting the new Paul Scholes who's now worth 50 million quid and we're sat on our backside so every club's going to do it but the governing body needs to protect the kids and say they can't be affiliated to a football club until a certain age ours was perfect in my eyes it was 13 you signed a school of excellence for one year you get to 14 at 14 you know a kid's got a decent chance of being a footballer we signed ours at 14 we'd had 16 in our age group if that and all 16 made professional footballers all at different levels but every single one had a career or played professionally the one thing we still play football with our mates yeah and that's it and you're still full.

38:09From six, seven, eight years of age and you can't play for your school team. It's still full. Well, because of like, in case... You're not allowed to.

38:14Paddy McGuinness:You can't play for your club. You can't play... And it's like... Them's your prime year development. The governing bodies should change that. They should, because it is a form of child abuse. Because if you're a kid... And the standard of kids' football is so bad on a Sunday morning and on a Saturday morning. Because all the kids are at football clubs, which is too early. If you can basically kick a football on a straight line to a wall at six, seven, you're in an academy. You're in an academy. Because they're scared they're scared they're missing out so they like fish and troll troll the fishing get the best ones and throw them all back in throw them all back in it's sad honestly I've seen it it's sad because what happens is if you're a footballer you're known throughout your school and schools have been in the same and anybody who's been through it you're known as the footballer so that's your that's your demographic that's how you're known that's what you walk around a school like oh he plays for Man United or he plays for England and it was like that for us when we were kids and I'm looking at these young kids now and it's not only the kids in school put pressure on him, the parents put it on Instagram, congratulations to little Johnny who's just signed for Man City.

39:17Paddy McGuinness:He's fucking eight. Yeah. He's eight. His chance of him getting to Man City is probably 1 % if that. Yeah. If that. So the pressure on, and the parents, that's just what happens and the pressure on a kid there, it is a child abuse and the governing body should stop it and say, right, no one can be affiliated and what happens then is they can go and train where they want we trained at Oldham together we trained at Man United together we trained we played at Bounder Park together then they go and play for school in Rochdale boys and I play for my school in Manchester boys and it's such fun to play with all your different mates absolutely but you're going in at eight years of age and you're just playing with the same group of lads three times a week you can't go and play with your mates on the street because you've got to get up from school go straight to the club because of traffic you get a packed lunch in your car because you can't you've got to eat you've got to do your own work in your car and then get back home and as well you're missing out on being a kid you know what I mean and getting all the things some of the things we had to do from when we had to get three buses yeah what do you mean so you get in a bus from Langley to Middleton Middleton to Manchester we'd always meet in Manchester we'd always meet in Manchester get on the bus have a laugh on the bus you know what I mean you miss all that I'd have a street wise go into the training on a Thursday night I'd get on the M10 bus with a double hot dog that big I'd be eating my hot dog and 20 minutes later you're training at man united thomas chippy chompson on the bus on the way yeah and then you get i always remember you go to the manager's office oh no the manager's office was there so it was kiddo the coach's office i'll never forget it and it used to cost 12p on the bus didn't it yeah so it'd be like 12p from my house to gorton market where you get the bus to town so it's another 24p good at maths for me then it's 36p to get there and 36p back what's that 72p oh so he's not about that 72p fucking hell it's like being sat at the table with Carol Vorderman so it's 72p there and back yeah and I'd put in £5 in my expenses and they'd give you £5 cash it was like the best night and they'd be like I'd like to see you through so it was your Friday Saturday Sunday you're like you're winning already you used to plug them expenses for and then how many meals a day you was having I used to get two pair of boots as well I love it and I'd be like right well I can get away with just having the moulded ones I might be slipping all over on my arse on a Saturday in the grass but I'm selling the studs so I have my mouldeds and I get I've been gone and my studs and I'm like Adidas Manchester remember I'm Adidas Manchester I sell Adidas my stud boots for about I don't know 30, 40 quid I win the lottery but you'd be slipping on your arse on a Saturday with your mouldeds on and it reminds me of going where's your boots and I'd go you've ripped and I'd be like get him some new boots oh what a treat did you ever or do you ever like sometimes remember lads I'm not on about who were at United and didn't quite make it.

41:57I'm on a boat before all that. Lads, you think, he were brilliant. I mean, like, what happened to him? Do you know what I mean? Like, them kids, I'm a mate of mine, still one of my best mates now, a lad called Franny. Absolutely exceptional footballer. Never made it because he were never sort of pushed into them things and no one, he were never scouted. Our school weren't big on football. And I would say, oh I wish someone had seen him playing in his I had a mate called Paulo Keefe remember him tiny two of us together we played for the same school team grew up together his dad actually played for Everton and Northern Ireland and his talent was unbelievable wasn't it but again I think he got released because he was too small I saw him about five years later six foot odd fucking massive unbelievable and just he were a great footballer brilliant footballer like yourself were you always the best player in your team if you like back then the one for you was Marvin wasn't it

42:59Paddy McGuinness:how good was Marvin he got injured didn't he my mate one of my best mates growing up he was 6 foot 1 when he was 14 right left footed winger come wing back come left back I think he captains our youth teams and stuff like that didn't he at 13 foot brilliant really really top top player went to the Spike Island concert in Stone Roses in Spike Island our coach reversed over his leg and crushed his leg. No. Oh, that's heartbreaking, isn't it? But also, for me as well, Raphael Milne. Raph. Burke. Burke, sorry, yeah, Raphael Milne. Burke, sorry. Ralphie Milne, you were thinking. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Raphael Burke.

43:36Yeah, he's a talented player. Unbelievable. He was a year older than us. A year older than us. He was an apprentice. He must have been a pro as well, wasn't he?

43:44Paddy McGuinness:He must have been a pro. He was like... A lot from Bristol. Unbelievable. Like, amazing dockerty. Amazing dockerty. what happened with this Raphael then? I don't really know, he just... He just lost it, he just, I don't know, he just never had that real, right, I really want it. I don't think he had a great mentality, do you? You know, he said that himself, didn't he, in a couple of things. He gets interviewed about certain things in documentation and stuff, but talent-wise, he was absolutely out of this world. This episode is brought to you by Google Chrome. You think you know a browser, but Gemini and Chrome?

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45:30Disney and Pixar's Hoppers, now available on Disney+. Rated PG. Do you think it's like the people around you as well? Like, if he'd have had, you know, when you were saying about your mums and dads and what have you and how they were, kept you on the straight and narrow and you know instilled certain things in you do you think I don't know this lad by the way but did you not think he had people around him going no come on get your head on this no I don't think he probably had it for him he had to move from

45:57Paddy McGuinness:home as well from home a young age he was from Bristol they sat in they sat in Diggs in the house it can't be easy can it it wouldn't be easy I don't know his background so I wouldn't be able to say that would like kiddo or not have tried to you know stay in there I think he'd have had help wouldn't he he obviously had the other lads around him as well whether he's only so much whether that year was a great example I don't know I can't really remember can you no I don't know his background I don't know I just he said it himself we just know he was a talented level he says if I'd had the drive of a Paul Scholes or David Beckham he would have been a superstar and it's facts he would have been but they can say that about so many kids so many so many kids did you ever have in like something in the locker again it's a working class thing this sometimes where you always think like something bad's gonna happen did you ever kind of think so well if it doesn't work out i'm gonna do a little bit of training as a plumber or whatever i was going in the army were you definitely i had a lot of mates have gone in that went into the armed forces i would have definitely gone into the army only because my i need structure in my life i can't just go and be a plumber and do i would have had to but i don't want to see that i'm like 40 seconds late coming in here no just thinking i can see him in No, I would have been because I need such a...

47:09Paddy McGuinness:That's not getting me doing fucking press-ups. That's 20 press-ups in the beginning. No, I was thinking about when you left school when you was young, didn't you? Oh, filing cabinet maker. Yeah, you had a job. No, you had a job. Filing cabinet. You used to make filing cabinets. I did, yeah. I left school early because I weren't great at school and I weren't doing any exams or anything, so my dad said, well, you're not sitting on your arse. I knew I was starting in the June, July, July at United, so I left school in December, so I had like five, six months. You didn't do your exams, did you? No.

47:37Paddy McGuinness:And my dad said, if you're not sitting on your arse, well, I got a job at filing card making. I lasted four months. I was getting about 150 quid at the time. That's good money back then. In my hand. Yeah, yeah. And by the time I got off the bus and walked through go-to-market, I spent about 30 quid on cream eggs. So literally. But I remember when we signed at United, I was on£29.50. And it's a gospel truth. I was thinking, I might just stay doing what I'm doing here now. I'm on four. Yeah, I'm on more money. I'm on four times more money. but I remember yeah I might stay at the cabinet make but I got sacked from that I was a milkman for two weeks was you but what it did it made me realise that when I got to United I was going to give everything that I had in my body to try and never go I didn't give it enough because the life that you can potentially have I didn't want to go back to that and again people will be listening thinking what an arsehole he sounds like but I did it for four months which is nothing compared to what people do out in the real world.

48:38Paddy McGuinness:But I realised that getting up at half five, six and getting a bus to work and working until half six at night, as a single lad who's not got any kids and not got any bills, is tough. And I always remember that when I was running around these, we used to run like every morning, and I always wanted to be up the top because I thought, I'm not going back to that. I'm not going back to that. I don't think that is a kind of bad attitude to have. I think everyone, if you, if you, there's a little bit of luck in everything, like you say about Brian Kidd being there that day, you know, and there's always little bits of luck and sliding door moments.

49:12But I think everyone, I remember working in a, I was in an engineering factory, which I loved. And I remember it was winter and sort of working with spanners and piss wet through and overalls and it's cold. And I remember sitting in the canteen with all these old blokes who were brilliant, all these old engineers, proper old school fucking woodbines in mouth. And it was pissing down. And I just had that moment. I looked around that room and I thought, I don't want to bid that. No disrespect to me, whatever I were at the time, 18 or something like that. But I just remember thinking to myself. You can't do that.

49:51No, it's not for me. And it's not that I went straight on to working on television, but I just left and I got another job and then saw Peter again. and I went to college and just that thing I didn't know what I wanted to be but I just thought I don't want to do that I think I probably had that experience well I did work experience at my mum and dad's factory they worked in a place in Ancora it's not far from here actually called Press Bar die castings and it was like all big furnaces and stuff you had your big overalls on and I was there for a week and I thought I can't do this yeah can't do this and people who do do it I take me out of some because it's graft but you kind of for me I just sort of went it's not that you think you're above anyone but you just have that thing in you some people in you go do you know what fuck this

50:32Paddy McGuinness:it's the same when I say it to my lad now and all I got told and drummed into off my dad was whatever you do I'm not expected to be playing for I don't expect you to play for Man United Nick I don't what I expect you to do is always give it your all so that if you don't play for United or you don't play for football you can't go to yourself for the rest of your life if I would have worked harder at that or if I would have done a bit more of that or if I would have stayed in that night or if I would have moved away from the knob heads that was pulling you down the regret would have would have killed me i was never gonna i was never gonna be one that goes sitting in a pub when i'm 50 going i used to play football with paul schools and i was better than possible i could have i could have been paul i could have i could have done this i could have done that there's that many shoulda woulda coulda fuckers in the world yeah all right don't be a sure woulda coulda and mate i don't care if you end up being a ballet dancer i really don't yeah as long as you work out at what you choose to do, then I'll be the proudest dad on the planet.

51:29Paddy McGuinness:When did you get your first big break with that? Because you were talking about all your jobs you had. What was your last job before you really went, right, I'm going into that? I was still working at Orich Leisure Centre in Bolton. Why were we filming? Well, no, this is what we were saying about, like, having a bit of something about you. So I started off as a... I weren't on the books, but I was a lifeguard there. My cousin got me on. so I did my little lifeguard course started working exactly same you I used to sell stuff at gym t-shirts and trainers always that got on with everyone there and then I saw that if you worked in gym you got more money so I went and did my fitness qualifications got a job there then there was something to do with bars so I ended up getting the thing where I could work on all the bars and then I ended up being uh it's called a duty manager and it sounds mad like uh It's not in the same thing as putting on a United shirt, but they used to wear a green top, the managers.

52:29And I remember the first day I put my green shirt, and I thought, fucking hell. Because I was like you at school, not the best, but I had, but I were very practical. If someone gave me a chance, I'd be all right at some point. So I was doing all right there. And then we did Phoenix Nights, because I bumped into Peter years ago and ended up going around with him, watching him do comedy and different things. Had you not been to drama school? None of that. No training, no. No, what were happening, I think I thought to myself, I had a really good science teacher at school, and I thought, right, science must be a good job getting to.

53:03Fucking wasn't. Well, not me, but teacher were that good. I thought, I'll go into that. And I met Peter here at college, Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council College. He was doing like, it wasn't amateur dramatics or anything. It was some course, but it was in that world. you know what I mean and he was doing stand-up and I'd go with him watching Odd Gig and what have you but yeah when we did Phoenix Knights I was still working at Orich we were only second series and in fact second series I was still there it when Peter said do you want to write Max and Paddy with me we'll do this spin-off and even then I were humming and hiring and it would someone said fucking give it a go you know what I mean and it's one of them moments I put this in my book this is true the manager at the time who I got on with he was an alright bloat but I said Luke I'm going to leave because I asked for time off unpaid I asked for six weeks off and he went no can't do that for you and I was like fuck it I said well Luke and he went you've got a job here you know is it really is it going to work you know it's like this thing it probably won't work and it's a real negative and I thought I nearly didn't do it I went no I'm going to do it and it sounds this is prime twattery but it was one of them so I was like lovely about six or seven years later cuts to me in me Bentley pulling up at Tesco's to put on this is obviously in Bolton pulling up at Tesco's in Bolton he stood outside waiting for a taxi with his shopping ex-manager sees me get out brilliant and I walked up to be heard he went works out alright so I went

54:47Paddy McGuinness:yeah it's alright but it was just when he did you go lovely you know what I mean I got a little story about that when I I was obviously what to be a footballer I fell out I didn't love school anyway but I didn't I just tossed it off really and there was a teacher there I said to me I said to my mum actually and this teacher hated me she was a science teacher funny enough she suspended me from school because of science well probably because of me not the science but I said to my mum it'll be a toilet cleaner in the next few years and when you say that to a kid fucking now I say anything my brother used to go to the same school as me so he was like four years younger than me and I'd obviously played for United at an early age and had a nice car and stuff and I went into the school to get the keys from my brother because I didn't I didn't have the keys from my mum's house and the same thing I pulled up next to her in a really nice band it was the best thing ever she was spending me here remember when you was at school with her you weren't in your Orion though was you no it wasn't it was better did you give it the old oh yeah oh yeah I went straight I went straight up I went I miss how you doing oh glad to see you doing well no you're fucking not you're seething remember the gas taps you used to have on a tyre desk the Bunsen burners yeah but you used to connect them up the actual the things remember the magnesium that you used to burn it it was bright as anything sort of bright spark me mate we got the magnesium on these tongs and then turned the gas on and lit it and it went it went about 60 metres sorry 60 foot across the classroom like that she's come running down you're a terrorist you're trying to blow the classroom room up and I was going I didn't it was just a stupid thing to do you don't think you just do something and you think well it's just stupid we did that so you set the gaff saps on fire locked me locked me in a classroom on my own for four hours mum come and got me that's when she said he'll be a toilet cleaner isn't it mad absolutely isn't it mad back in the day and by the way kids don't set fire to Bunsen Bennett saps like me and Nicky but it's mad like stuff because even now in this day and age a teacher said that to a kid no Christ almighty It might have been inquiring and all sorts of...

56:50Imagine locking a kid in a room. Yeah, four hours. Yeah, four hours.

56:52Paddy McGuinness:No fire. No way of getting out. Is there a fire? Just going off slightly, because there was some of my notes I wanted to mention, and you've done it. So the other week, I think it was Robbie Fowler was saying the white suit he had and the Spice Boys thing and all that carry on. It's at the football museum in Manchester, and he was saying to you, have you got anything in there, any medals or anything like that? and I said, can you bring them in? And I appreciate you keep all these in bloody bank vaults, which is quite right, but you've been down. You've brought a few treats in for us. I have. Well, again.

57:33Paddy McGuinness:Mine are in the bank locked up. I can't just get it. I can't just get it. It's been this morning. My bank done opened until 12. Look at this. Right. Oh, put them on. I am very excited about this. so what have you brought in I've brought the treble years medals to have a look at look at this everyone you need to clean them so that's the league one I think it was 99 of course 98-99 champions any football fan you see players getting given medals and you watch a book I always think to myself what would it like have one in my hand and have a right good look at it here I am what I'm going to do because our cameras are set I can't zoom in on these so I'm going to film it on my phone just so you lot watching the podcast can see what I'm seeing and here we are so this is 98-99 treble winning season this is champions for winning the Premier League look at that love a bit of weight in that as well Scorsey It's nice, isn't it?

58:45That's that one. Needs cleaning, right? This one definitely needs cleaning. Oh, Champions League, here we go. I actually shouldn't have that. Why? I didn't play in the game. But they gave an extra... Yeah, but you were a part of getting that. They gave an extra couple out for me and Roy.

59:05Paddy McGuinness:Nice for Matt, wasn't it? Yeah, I know, yeah. That'll still smell of three days of beer and wine and champagne. That would be... Honestly, sniff that, you'll be drunk. sniffed that paddy you were drunk it's alright though do you know do you feel that about that medal yeah yeah well I'm the same because literally I didn't play in the FA Cup final yeah but you played in that game didn't you I didn't play absolutely the treble you know what I mean I remember the FA Cup final because obviously you and Keeney were suspended and I didn't play so this is the FA Cup medal that's the FA Cup one it actually doesn't say the year on there but I'm pretty sure that is the 99 can I take that out of course can I for some reason it doesn't say the year on them ones have you got it yeah we got fucking stuck in that Scolsey I don't want to I don't want to break it pal oh shit myself then he's fucking pulled it off no I found it like that this morning it was look at that FA Cup well that doesn't have a year on that does it no beauty so you've you've got this but you were same as Scolsey with that one yeah I didn't play in the FA Cup because obviously I was I was only left out for the Wednesday I was only real midfielder that that was available because scores in Kini was suspended so I couldn't play didn't play me in the FA Cup one which I like to spoke about before the FA Cup's massive for me growing up and yeah I was I was devastated but looks well that one what's in the box you know the was talking before it goes about you know the one that gets me paddies all the Premier League's that we've won luckily the one that I wanted was the first one with 92 which Brucey one yeah I'm telling about it on the podcast they never got a medal like that you got a replica of the trophy a little bit and it was the only time it's ever been done was that year so it's a very valuable trophy nobody else will have that path the first Premier League the first and only one so the only that squad of Man United players that will have that trophy Nick I was devastated when we won the league I thought we were getting them yeah and you got that didn't you what's this what would you say not for the competition but just purely for the design of it is the greatest trophy.

1:01:11World Cup. World Cup. World Cup.

1:01:14Paddy McGuinness:It's got to be on it. I mean, I don't know.

1:01:20Paddy McGuinness:Champions League, isn't it? Yeah, but that little gold, it's beautiful. Yeah. It's absolutely gorgeous. Yeah. I've seen a replica of it. I've never seen it in the proper one, but I'm like, that's true. Yeah, Champions League. But you know, there's something about the FA Cup though, isn't there? Do you not think? The FA Cup, it's iconic, isn't it? Yeah. Do you know what I find? Never did it because it would have been amazing. The World Cup looks nice to lift. Them big ones. You hit yourself in the face. Your teeth are hanging out. They're hard work. Yeah, I always wonder why they don't get us a split.

1:01:51Paddy McGuinness:Someone gets a split eye. A tee for an hour. You always lift your trophy up. Yeah, and it's always an awkward because you go, oh, shit. It's all that. Trophy makers can start that out. Do you want me to fucking thing flips out the bar and you stand it up? It's a fucking nightmare. World Cup looks unbelievable, doesn't it? Yeah, World Cup. of the tree it's a solid gold oh look at that beautiful have you ever I can't you lads must have played with World Cup winners yeah Lauren Blount yeah have you ever seen a World Cup winning medal Cleverson Cleverson I was one of the World Cup in 2002 yeah have you ever seen a World Cup medal a winners one no what do you get for playing in a tournament do you get anything if you don't win like at no Oh.

1:02:38Bloody hell, so it's like,

1:02:40Paddy McGuinness:shit's a bus, really. Do you know when we first won them, the STEM three, I remember there was an email come through and we got offered£500 ,000 back then for them three medals from somebody in China. You're joking? No, no. I've changed my mind. Go on. Where is this in there going after? Fucking straight on eBay. Chinese version. Fucking China there, go. We don't worry about that. Hey, do you know what would be lovely and I don't know what you do? A cap. Yeah. An England cap. That'd be a little treat, that. I'd put it in my office. Lovely. No, I've put it out there. No, yeah. What, you mean a proper cap with the England badge on?

1:03:18With the velvet caps, what they give you.

1:03:20Paddy McGuinness:A cap like a, you only get them when you play for one, mate. You must have more than us. You've probably got me time for soccer, eh? I've got them for soccer, but I mean, do you want one? You want to see it or you actually want one? Well, I'd like one. Do you know what disappointed me a bit with them? That, say, I play 66 games. You don't get 66 caps because you get a few of the caps and have the different games on. Do you know what's this thing I didn't like that. What's this thing they're all getting now? Yeah, that red cap. What's that? I think that's your first cap. No, no, it's like I've not seen that.

1:03:46Paddy McGuinness:Legacy cap what everyone's getting every now and again. You play for England. I think you might be 850th appearance maker for England. You mean like older players? Yeah, I don't know. I've actually seen presentations now where they've given it to the young ones or the ones who make the first cap. I think it's called the legacy cap. So basically if you are Paul Scholes and you're six I see Teddy get one or something. Yeah, the 690th player to play for England, for example. You get a legacy cap. When you've played in the game, have you ever had any error where you thought, I'm getting his shirts after?

1:04:14You know what? I did it once for Aaron. Aaron liked Thierry Henry. He probably won't like me saying this, because he played for Arsenal, but he liked Thierry Henry. So I got his and asked him to sign it to Aaron, and we had it up in the room, actually. Don't know where it is now. So before the game, were you thinking, right, or do you say before the game, listen, after, in case someone nabs it? no I'd never do that so how does it work then you just go up to him off pitch I look and bump into him

1:04:39Paddy McGuinness:don't you I've never asked anyone for a shirt how did you get Zidane's then because it was the last person when the final whistle went and we played against each other we've all played against each other it was really weird in them days we seemed to play Juve more than we did Arsenal it was like always drawing him up with somebody and they were always battering us that was the only time I ever asked was that one and it was there and he just shook my hand and went like that and I went yeah took it off so he offered it to you yeah he offered it to me he obviously knew that fucking what a treat he basically it was a final little slap on my arse he just put me pit all day and he's like and you can have my shirt where I'll just bend you over you are not better you are not better you are not better if it's the closest you'll get to it you can have my shirt we can try to pull it off my back for the last hour yeah so yeah use that to mop up your teeth yeah oh lovely stuff yeah what about what were yours then I had Iniesta's as well oh Iniesta and he asked me to swap so that's what I mean fuck it now we would never ask anybody would we Tear and Marie was the only one I ever did but other than that no I'd never ask if someone asked come to me yeah of course no problem why would the manager not like that didn't like it he never liked it what even if you've won I think we won it's different you used to make you pay for the shirt if you gave it away fuck off we love nothing better when you get in touch with us and you've sent in some belting questions Brandon's first one I think we've already preempted this hi lads love the podcast heard Paul talk on the last episode saying he wasn't sure whether the National Football Museum had any of his medals.

1:06:09He said that's crazy to him. Word of footballs, keep the medals and awards, and are there any on display in your houses? Well, we've just talked about that and we've shown the medals, but sadly these days it seems like you've got to keep all these in a bank vault. I think you've got a choice, haven't you?

1:06:24Paddy McGuinness:Some of them will have them on show, some don't. We got advised a long time ago to not have them in your house because you're asking for trouble, and hopefully that will never happen to anybody. it's not what you want you'd like to put them on a show around your houses but I did for some time at my house but you never got to take a picture of it and stuff you know advertising the facts Out of all your medals and all your trophies which is I don't mean valuable as in money worth but what is the most valuable and sentimental to you? Just all of them Yeah Winning Premier Leagues it's I wouldn't favour one in front look I love the FA Cup I love scoring the FA Cup final but I still wouldn't say my favourite medal I loved every single one of them I think for me it sounds very stupid but we won an FA Youth Cup when we were first coming through we were 16 and the club hadn't done it it was a bit like the league they hadn't done it for something like 30 years I think it was Busby Babe or something I'm sure that's not the right number but it was around that time and it was it was almost we were bred to do that for the club and then that was the start of us keep winning things and that was my first thing we played at Old Trafford and it was a full house so it was a big probably the biggest thing you can win as a 16 year old boy so that and then obviously you get your first league then you get your first European Cup and they all seem they're all very special I love it I'm glad you've brought them in it's just it was nice just to again as a fan just to have it in your hand go fucking hell look at that right let's have a look Len's saying what do you lads think about Elliot Anderson to United seen him link quite a bit this year is he good enough to get United back to competing again and would they give Casemiro a new deal Elliot Anderson is a really good player look I think they need a bit more than Anderson to get to where they want to be to challenge him but no I think he's a really good player when he was at Newcastle I thought he was a good player I thought he was more of an attacking midfielder I didn't see him in this role that he's playing for England as a number six they call it these days but he looks a really good player I think he's athletic enough as well and yeah I think he'd be a really good signing but that's a good player I think I think it's what the board and the manager wants from a player to get where United want to be they need a lot more than just that but is he better than the ones you've got in now and that's what always should be you should always get players that are better than what you've got in the building and looking at what he's doing now for me he looks like essentially a top top player do you think Casemiro gets a new deal but Casemiro's been a great player I think he's actually playing a bit better this year than he was possibly last year.

1:09:04I think you've got to take his age into account. What is he now? 32, 33? I don't know. I think they'll probably move on after his deal's done. Yeah, it wouldn't make sense to me. Right, and talking to Brazilians, James said, who's the best Brazilian player to ever play in the Premier League? And he's put main contenders, Alisson Firmino, Coutinho, Fernandinho Gimberto Silva Thiago Silva and Giannino but what about you lads? Do you know out of that list? Giannino was unbelievable I was going to say and he lit up

1:09:43Paddy McGuinness:a small club Middlesbrough Middlesbrough weren't a high flying thing I think Coutinho was amazing for a few years at Liverpool before he went to Barcelona which he probably shouldn't have done but I would definitely go with Giannino and he's just he always plays with the right spirit he looks at me like He always looked happy. He was one of them you played against. You know, like Lionel Messi? Yeah. You don't know what he's going to do. Not a fucking clue what he was going to do. He was unpredictable and brilliant. Yeah. I also love Thiago Silva, man. Not so much in the Premier League for Chelsea, but when he came onto the scene at AC Milan, he was fucking unbelievable.

1:10:16Yeah. He was unbelievable.

1:10:18Paddy McGuinness:Favourite Brazilian player of all time, though, for me is Ronaldo Arnine. Arnine, the original. It was great, wasn't it? Unbelievable. I think his nickname was a phenomenon, wasn't it? Is that the picture that you got for a present? No, he's not. Not when he goes. Honestly, it's unbelievable. He played against him. And by the way, don't forget he had so many injuries. So he probably, when he played against my play against, probably had 80 % of his full talent. He was incredible. He was, honestly, Paddy, he was unbelievable. I was going to say, listening to you, lads, you've played the game about players.

1:10:53When you're on the pitch, do you see that? Do you go, fucking hell? Yes. yeah while they play play against a Barcelona team yeah the Real Madrid team AC Milan team at one point fucking hell this is good really this is gonna be hard you just you're going to survival mode don't you please don't make me look at it really honestly because of that good I think if Ronaldo one about his

1:11:14Paddy McGuinness:two injuries on his knees he'd have been spoken about like Ronaldo Messi and Maradona well I always remember that game and to Milan away he did his knee was fucked. His knee was a mess. He was strapped up to I don't know what and they had to carry him on for 20 minutes and the crowd, I'd never seen anything like it. There's the aura around him. And like Scully said, that's like him when he was not fit. Imagine playing against him in his Barcelona days when he played Bobby Robson to Bobby Robson. I mean, I remember the goal watching him in the goal and he gets hit in the and you're looking going, it looks like it's on fast forward, the video.

1:11:52Paddy McGuinness:It's just unbelievable. I think everyone who's played with him and been in and around him says the same thing so you know and what you lads said counts for me you know so if you've been on there and you're saying it fucking hell what was the which was it France where he had his breakdown was it that World Cup yeah Nike made him play didn't they apparently I don't know I don't really know what happened yeah I remember seeing him on the pitch going Jesus Christ this isn't like what everyone's used to it wasn't well was it I don't think So you're saying R9 and you're saying Giannino. I say R9, but he's not playing in Premier League, has he?

1:12:33Paddy McGuinness:For Premier League player, Brazilian Premier League player, I'd definitely say Giannino, same as Scaldi, but I just thought I'd put it out there that my favourite, best ever Brazilian player, obviously I've never seen Pele, would be Ronaldo. Right, okay. And that's that, folks. We'll end on that one. Thanks for watching. Make sure you like and subscribe and you can get us on all your usual channels, Apple, Spotify, and YouTube. as well as everywhere else.

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