More often than not, Sir Alex Ferguson was an exceptionally good judge of character. The Scotsman was able to identify players who he thought would reach the very top of the game, while also predicting the ones who wouldn't. He is, however, only human - and even the great man got one or two first impressions wrong during his time at Manchester United.
For Paul Scholes, he was initially written off for being too small. The midfielder, who was a part of United's fabled Class of '92, came through the ranks alongside David Beckham, Gary Neville and others. He was a member of the Reds' youth team that reached the final of the FA Youth Cup in the 1992/93 season, but his time at Old Trafford threatened to be over before it had even truly started.
When he arrived for his first day, Ferguson wasn't sure that he would grow into a footballer. It is a stigma that doesn't often get mentioned nowadays, but in years gone by, a player's future in the game was sometimes judged by how big he was. As a small midfielder, Scholes was under immediate pressure at United.
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It's safe to say that the United manager, at first, was not convinced by Scholes. Then, after the "exceptionally shy" youngster had walked into his office, the Scot also had something to joke about.
"I will always remember Paul Scholes' first day at our club," Ferguson wrote in his 2013 autobiography. "He came in with a little guy called Paul O'Keefe.
"His father, Eamonn, had played at Everton. They were standing behind Brian Kidd, who had told me he was bringing in two lads he liked the look of. They were 13. 'Where are these two young kids?' I asked Brian. They were so small they were invisible behind Brian's frame.
"They were about 4ft 8in tall. I looked at this tiny pair and thought how are these two going to become footballers?
It became a standing joke at our club. When Scholesy came into the youth team, I said, in the coaches' room, 'That Scholes has got no chance. Too small'."
Of course, Scholes would go on to prove Ferguson wrong. The Englishman was not motivated by other people's opinions, but the opportunity to prove certain people wrong simply came as a bonus. On reflection, Ferguson's initial verdict, given how small Scholes was at the time, was somewhat fair, but it was still harsh on the youngster.
However, it did not take Ferguson too long to change his mind about Scholes. The midfielder, who went on to make over 700 appearances for the Reds, registering 153 goals and 75 assists, won 11 Premier League titles and two Champions League trophies at United.
He is widely regarded - by former coaches, teammates and opponents - as one of the best central midfielders in history, and he proved to be one of Ferguson's most trusted generals during their time together.
"As a young forward, in the hole, Scholes would be guaranteed 15 goals a season," Ferguson added. "When he developed into a central midfield player, he had the brain for the passing game and a talent for orchestration.
"He must have been a natural. I loved watching teams trying to mark him out of the game. He would take them into positions they didn't want to go to, and with a single touch would turn the ball around the corner, or feint away and hit the reverse pass.
"Opponents would spend a minute tracking him and then be made to appear inconsequential or even foolish. They would end up galloping back to their own box. He would destroy a marker that way."
In a similar fashion to the way in which it began, Scholes' relationship with Ferguson over the years included clashes. The pair enjoyed a strong bond that has lasted decades, but it certainly hasn't been without arguments.
Scholes recently admitted that a disagreement with his then-manager left him thinking his time at Old Trafford might have been at an end. Speaking to former United teammate Neville on The Overlap, the 48-year-old delved into a fight between himself and the Scot.
The incident in question occurred in November 2001, when the Reds had the unfortunate luck of playing Liverpool in the Premier League on a Sunday, before a League Cup clash against Arsenal on the Monday.
In the top-flight clash against Liverpool, Ferguson's side lost 3-1, with Michael Owen - who went on to play for United - scoring a brace in the match. For Scholes, it was disappointing given that he only played the final 13 minutes ahead of a tie against the Gunners the next day.
United's reserve players were expected to play in the second game, which is one reason why Scholes was left infuriated when he wasn't named in the starting line-up for the first match of the double-header.
"I did stupid things when I was a kid, he [Ferguson] left me out on the Sunday and I was p***** off," Scholes explained. "Sometimes when I got left out most of the time I knew the reason why, I hadn’t played well the week before so I could take it, I was fine, you see some players they just can’t take it whether they played badly or not.
"I can’t remember what the game was before but I was just really p***** off that he didn’t pick me in that game and we were getting beat, we weren’t playing very well. I'm thinking at half-time he's going to bring me on and he didn't.
"I was wound up from the start of the game, my head had gone, and I was thinking he's going to bring me on and I don't know if I imagined it but I felt like he was doing it on purpose, 'I'm not bringing him on because I'm going to play him tomorrow', at that time it was like a League Cup game you play the reserves, you play the young lads.
"My head was gone and I thought he was doing it on purpose, he wasn't bringing me on he was just leaving it and leaving it and leaving it and thinking right there's 10 minutes to go and I can play and go ahead and play tomorrow."
Whether or not Ferguson was attempting to play mind games with Scholes remains unclear, but the United midfielder - annoyed at how the situation had been handled - opted to take things into his own hands.
Rightly or wrongly, the Englishman decided that he would be the one to decide whether or not he played against Arsenal, and went and told his manager exactly what he thought.
Scholes continued: "I went home and I was still fuming. We were meeting that night at Stockport at the train station and told him I wasn't going.
"I pulled up next to him in the car park, the gaffer was there in his big Mercedes, I f****** wound down the window and said I'm not going. It was crazy, stupid, but my head had gone and after that game it was an international break so it just went on and went on.
"There was no contact because I was with England so I had to wait 10 days, I don't think he went mad, he just fined me two weeks' wages, I apologised."
"I didn't think I'd survive after that, to be honest with you, I thought I'd be gone."
Thankfully for both Scholes and United, Ferguson was forgiving. The outcome could have been very different, and who knows what would have happened if the Reds boss had opted to axe the midfielder.
Scholes was, and still is, loved by the Reds faithful. His ability, commitment and determination endeared him to his teammates and the club's supporters. Once labelled 'too small', the English reached heights only few players can dream of.
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