Man Utd icon Scholes tells daughter to ‘smash them about.. don’t be a cocky little s***’ as he turns netball coach

PAUL SCHOLES has turned netball coach, telling talented daughter Alicia to “smash them about but don’t be a cocky little s***’. Alicia, 18, joined the England youth setup two years ago and was expecting to train with league champions Manchester Thunder’s senior team, only for coronavirus to intervene. Now Manchester United legend dad Paul, 45, […]

PAUL SCHOLES has turned netball coach, telling talented daughter Alicia to “smash them about but don’t be a cocky little s***’.

Alicia, 18, joined the England youth setup two years ago and was expecting to train with league champions Manchester Thunder’s senior team, only for coronavirus to intervene.

Now Manchester United legend dad Paul, 45, has been giving her some advice – while admitting his daughter’s path into professional sport is eerily similar to his own.

Scholes Snr told The Times: “The more I think about it, our pathways are so similar.

“We had six really good players who were all the same age as Alicia is [at Man Utd].

“Manchester Thunder just won the league and had a great start to this season — they’ve got the best players and the best coach and I had exactly the same.

“I had a fight on my hands and Alicia will have a fight on her hands to get into the first team.

“You don’t have a voice at that age; you had to show these first-team players how good you are, that, technically, you can play.

“You have to possibly be a bit aggressive with them. Smash them about, that’s what we had to do.

“You had to make an impression on first-team players if you want to be a first-team player.

“They’ll surely respect that way, rather than being a cocky little s***.”

And it seems Alicia will heed that advice, replying: “When you’re playing against the first team, you’ve got to be fearless.

“Just play how you normally would and hopefully you can outskill them a bit, rather than being shy.”

Meanwhile, Scholes – arguably one of the best passers of a football in history – has revealed he has invented a new type of pass… in netball.

Alicia revealed: “He tries telling me to do a ‘spin pass’…

In reply, her dad joked: “I’ve invented a pass but [Alicia] won’t present it to [her coach] yet, which I’m a bit disappointed about.”