Paul Scholes was an absolute legend for Manchester United during his playing days but he's now carving himself a reputation as something of an outspoken pundit since hanging up his boots.

Frequently found on BT Sports tearing into everyone who upsets him, he's become more controversial now that he ever was as a player.

During his glory years at Old Trafford, he gave off the impression of being a consummate professional who wouldn't have dared defy Sir Alex Ferguson when he demanded something of him.

However, while that was true for the most part, back in 2011 he revealed that there was an incident that could have seen him turfed out of his ear.

Back in 2001, Scholes was at the height of his powers and was arguably one of the club's most important players so it came as a shock when he refused to take part in a League Cup game against Arsenal.

Scholes says that he turned up in a bad mood and simply refused to play, and now counts himself lucky that Ferguson didn't get rid of him on the spot.

"I just got a bee in my bonnet that I wasn't happy with things. I had my reasons but it was stupid really." Scholes recalled.

"I ended up getting fined and having to apologise, but I was lucky. The manager would have been within his rights to get rid of me."

This was at a point where tensions between United and Arsenal were boiling over into some monumental battles on the pitch, so Scholes taking a step away was an unthinkable offence at the time.

Luckily for him, Fergie, and the fans, he managed to get back into the manager's good books and continued to become the genuine legend that we all know him to be.

Having initially retired in 2011, he laced his boots up again a year later in 2012 to help the club through a rough patch, but confirmed his actual retirement at the end of that season in 2013.