oh right , thanks for that bit of info Oranje .

Sir Alex Ferguson's plans have been thrown into chaos by confirmation Paul Scholes will miss the remainder of the season with an eye problem.

The Manchester United chief vehemently denied Scholes is suffering from potential blindness or a cyst.

The midfielder ended the Barclays Premiership clash with Birmingham on December 28 with blurred vision.

But it was only after the problem failed to clear up within a fortnight as originally diagnosed that medical opinion from a visit to a second specialist yesterday was deemed sufficiently serious to sideline the 31-year-old for the rest of the campaign.

Because the problem is not deemed 'football related', patient confidentiality prevents United officials from revealing the precise nature of the illness.

But Scholes, who attended Sunday's Premiership win over Liverpool with his son, has been ordered to rest for a minimum of three months.

'Paul Scholes has a medical condition affecting the vision in his right eye,' said a United statement.

'It is not a football-related injury.

'This has been confirmed by a number of specialists who have all agreed that he needs to rest for a period of three months.

'Obviously, it is a disappointment for Paul and Manchester United that he will miss the rest of the season.

'We look forward to having him back for pre-season training.'


Terrible news for Scholes, we wish Paul the best and that this is not seroius and his return to the game will be a prompt one.

It sounds very serious ...

they have not exactly said what it is , only a medical condition that affects his vision . To be missing for the rest of the season though it is obviously fairly serious , hope he is ok soon .

It sounds rather serious, they told him to rest for 3 months. Hopefully he will be fine after 3 months.

I read somewhere that Giggs is also out injured. Man Utd seems really run down in the midfield department.

Giggs picked up an injury in the mid-week League Cup Semi final with Blackburn.

i heard that Gail Clichy should be back in training with Arsenal next week so that is some good news for us .

I don't really know if its a good or bad thing but it is stated on the official Liverpool website that Crouch is injured. Gerrard is back from injury and that can only be good.

poor alan smith
wish him a speedy recovery

scholes myt not even play agen he haz a terible eye and we hope he duz come bak

Hi there 06gfowler. Welcome to the site. How about you go to the Newcomer's section so we can give you a proper welcome. While you are there, take your time to fill in the Newcomer's questionnaire as well. Thanks.

I wish Alan Smith and Scholes all the best. I'm not the biggest fan of Man Utd but these two are serious and i wish them both a speedy recovery.

The Alan Smith was attrocious, its weird you see all of these two footed tackles flying in and people stand up and walk away and then something like this with no-one else around.

Yeah was slightly odd, but id rather see someone get injured like this than some idiot breaking it for him.


*Hey Oranje, is that pic of you? *

Horrific injury for Smith, and a big loss for Man U. But, if anyone can make a full recovery my bet is on Alan. He's a tough character and I expect to see him back, and knowing him it will be sooner than the doctors expect.........

No hoopy, the pic is not of me.....

i heard that Alan Smith`s injury is not career threatening as the papers have made out . I know its bad but have they just sensationalised the injury a bit to sell more papers .

As long as no other damage has been done it will be about 8 months . I think he may be back at the end of the year.

I think the boots players now wear are to blame. Theres no 'give' in the studs and as a consequence when the boot grips the turf it doesn't move this results in the energy being dissipated to a joint - either leg or ankle. studs need to be flexible in design. Something similar to a cross-country runners waffle soled shoes or rubber soled would do the trick- why boot manufacturers don't design one is beyond me

Thats an interesting point. But before that, how about you going to the Newcomer's section so that we can give you a proper welcome.

I just read on Soccernet that doctors can only recover the vision in Sissoko's right eye by anything from 20 % to 80 %. In a nutshell, there is a possibility that his right eye is 80% damaged. They have also confirmed that the kick has damaged his retina (the part of the eye that senses light).

Its dreadful whats happened to Sissoko. The doctors say that his sight is compromised and that he might have lost up to 80% of his sight in one eye. It certainly looks as though his career might be over.

Thats terrible news. I hope it isn't as bad as predicted and i wish him all the best in this difficult time.

I really hope its now a career ending injury because the boy has so much potential.

i think you meant `its not now a career ending injury` . Well even if he recovered 80% of his vision in that eye , is that enough for top flight football . I suppose we will have to wait and see , hope he does recover though as it would be very sad for his career to end like that .

Ashley Cole is now another 3 weeks or so away from a return for Arsenal after his latest setback . He may now be struggling to make the last few matches at the end of the season .

Sol Campbell has bruised his big toe so is now out of our Champions League tie tonight , it had looked as if he was going to play after recovering from his ankle injury but Arsene Wenger now says he needs 48 hrs to recover .

A bruised toe! What a girl.