David Artell is looking forward to lining up against the new Oldham Athletic boss Paul Scholes this weekend. Artell says it is always interesting to ‘pick the brains’ of one of the game’s greatest ever player.

He recently did the same when sharing an after-match drink with one of Scholes’ former England team-mates, Sol Campbell.

Scholes has recently become the long-term replacement for Frankie Bunn at Boundary Park and Artell feels that those legends of our game should be handed a chance higher up the ladder because of their experience and status.

Ahead of this weekend’s trip to Boundary Park, David said: “It will be good to meet Paul and his staff. I did my coaching course with Peter Wild and what a great guy he is. He is a real football guy and a great coach.

“It will be interesting to see what Paul does because he was such a fantastic player and had a top drawer career, much in the same way Sol did.

“I shared a drink with Sol after the game on Saturday and why wouldn’t I want to pick his brains because he was a great player and has great experience? Hopefully, I will get the opportunity to do that with Paul and his staff this weekend.

“I understand where someone like Sol is coming from. He found it difficult to get a manger's job and was very public about it but he has backed himself at Macclesfield and good luck to him.

“Great players like him and Paul probably deserve a chance higher up the ladder but for some reason we are reluctant to do that in this country. Foreign owners perhaps go more with a foreign coach or manager who has done well in their own league.

"I am not being disrespectful there because they will be good coaches but if someone does well in the Spanish, Italian or Germany league, it is like they get those opportunities ahead of British managers.

The boss added: “I hope our fans will come to Oldham in their numbers again like they did at Macclesfield. It made a huge difference to the players. They were terrific.”