NEW Oldham Athletic manager Paul Scholes aims to use his contacts at places like Manchester United to improve Latics on the pitch.

It was announced today that the former England midfielder, who won 11 Premier League titles during his time at Old Trafford, would take the top job at Oldham after weeks of speculation.

Speaking at his first press conference as the new boss, the 44-year-old said he would look to build on loan signings like Zak Dearnley, who scored his first goal for the club in his debut during Saturday's 3-0 over Crawley.

When asked whether he would use his links to top clubs during his time at Boundary Park, he said: "That's what I'll be trying to do, yes.

"Zak's come in and scored his first goal on Saturday and he made a big difference in the game so I was really pleased with him because he's a young player. "Of course you need to have contacts when you're down at this level, you need to have contacts all over the place. I've got a few people that I can get in touch with at various places not just at Manchester United.

"Obviously I'm very close to Nicky [Butt], very close to Manchester United and if they can help me in some way I'm sure they will."

Scholes has been handed an 18-month contract by club owner Abdallah Lemsagam and replaces caretaker boss Pete Wild who took over from Frankie Bunn in late December.

The Oldham Times:

He will be bringing in former Latics coach Mick Priest as his assistant.

Currently, Oldham sit 14th in League Two, nine points from the play-off places but Scholes admitted he would like to take them to promotion back to League One and his ultimate ambition would be to see the Latics return to the Premier League after more than 20 years outside the top-flight.

"It would be very difficult to get to that level again but you have to have that ambition, fans have that ambition I'll have that ambition and I'm sure Abdullah will have the ambition to get back to that level again," he said.

"The town was brilliant, it was a great place to be, there was a full crowd here week in and week out and there were some great cup runs, we want that time back again of course we do, but there's a long way to go."

Scholes added: I just feel now the time's right, I've watched the team closely and I think they're a really good team with really good players, I know they're mid-table at the moment but with the players we have I think it should be a squad that's pushing for promotion. Maybe that might be a little bit out of reach for this year but certainly for next season."

One of the issues which had delayed the new managers appointment appeared to be his links with Salford City, who sit in a promising position in the National League and could be about to join Oldham in League One.

The Oldham Times:

Scholes owns 10 percent of Salford, along with former United teammates Phil and Gary Neville, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs and David Beckham.

But, he has discussed the issue with the English Football League and was told he could pursue the Oldham job without giving up his stake as long as transfers between the two clubs are referred to league officials first.

He said: "I don't really do anything at Salford anyway I was more like a Salford fan, I'd go to watch games and see how the team was doing. Look one day it might happen I might have to play against Salford we might have to play against each other and I'll be trying to beat them and they'll be trying to beat me.

"I can keep the 10 percent stake, I've had to resign as a director of the club but like I say I was non-operational anyway it didn't really confuse matters. I'm here now to give 100 percent to Oldham and course I'm still going to watch Salford and see how they're doing but my main focus now is Oldham Athletic."

Scholes will be hoping to kick off his Latics career tomorrow night with a victory against Yeovil.