As the late great Sid Waddell would have said in the commentary box- There's only one word for that- magic darts!.
The Geordie voice of darts would have been almost lost for words this year if he had still been around to commentate on the major PDC (Professional Darts Corporation) tournaments this year. That's because one man like so many other years, Phil Taylor, has simply been too good almost of all of the time for his darting rivals.
Whilst Andy Murray will surely walk away with the award for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2013 after his memorable Wimbledon triumph, Phil Taylor is more than deserving of a nomination for a third time. He was nominated in 2006 and 2010 and in the latter year he secured a memorable and richly deserved second place.
However, the thing is that remarkably after over 20 years at the top, 'The Power' as he's affectionately known looks to be in the form of his life at 53 years old having won all but two of the Major titles in the darting circuit this year. Over the last few months in particular, nobody has been able to get near him even when they are playing their best.
Before anyone shudders at the thought of darts being recognised at the Sports personality of the year award, darts has been officially categorised as a sport since 2005 by all the Sporting Councils in the UK and as pointed out, Taylor has already been nominated twice before by the esteemed panel who decide the Sports Personality shortlist.
The criteria for this years BBC award sets out three clear categories to decide their 12 person shortlist. It will reflect UK Sporting achievements on the national/international stage, it will represent the breadth and depth of UK sports and it would take into account the impact over and beyond the sport/sporting achievement in question.
Now in my eyes, Taylor clearly ticks all the boxes for this year for the judges. He started off the year by winning the pinnacle title in his sport, the World Championships for a remarkable 16th time by beating young Dutchman Michael Van Gerwen in the final, 7-4. That comeback from 4-2 down in the final on New Years Day seemed to give 'The Power' the surge to go and dominate the 2013 world of darts.
Since then he has won the World Cup of Darts, with Adrian Lewis, the UK Open, the World Matchplay, the Sydney Masters, the World Grand Prix, the Championship League, The Masters and yesterday, the Grand Slam of Darts.
Only Michael Van Gerwen by beating him in the Premier League Final and Ronny Huybrechts by inflicting a shock 10-5 defeat on him in the second round of the European Championships in July (Taylor's last televised defeat) have stopped him claiming a clean sweep of the 2013 PDC titles.
It's not just his sheer desire to win or the sheer consistency, it is Taylor's utter domination of top, top quality darts players in all these tournaments. If this was Lionel Messi, Roger Federer, Usain Bolt or Tiger Woods, Taylor would be the talk of offices, pubs and text messages across the land. But darts still struggles to transcend stereotypes unfortunately despite Taylor and others incredible efforts.
Just look at those final wins. He won the UK Open beating former World Finalist and world number five Andy Hamilton 11-4. He beat Adrian Lewis 18-13 in the Matchplay final averaging a record 111.23 for each three darts thrown. He thrashed Lewis, the two time world champion 10-1 in The Masters in Edinburgh. Van Gerwen was demolished 10-3 in the Sydney Masters and 10-3 in the Championship League Final.
Former World Finalist and a man who knocked him out of the world Championships in 2012, Dave Chisnall only managed to get one leg off him in a 6-0 sets thrashing at the World Grand Prix. And last night he thumped Scotland's Robert Thornton 16-6 at the Grand Slam, having managed to defeat Lewis in the semi-finals earlier in the day, despite Lewis averaging 111 and hitting 18 180's.
You have to wonder where this run will end. At 53 years old, Taylor is a multi-millionaire who has won over 200 tournaments, including 80 majors. Yet everytime he steps up to the oche he wants to win. Somewhat bizarrely names like Eric Bristow (perhaps helped by an appearance in the I'm a Celebrity jungle last year), Jocky Wilson and John Lowe are still more revered than Taylor, but they wouldn't have got near Taylor in this form.
Taylor is a true master of his sport. As soon as the latest young 'upstart' arrives on the scene whether it be Van Gerwen, Lewis or even more experienced rivals like Raymond Van Barneveld or John Part, the man from Stoke-on-Trent makes it his mission to take them down and he has being doing so for the best part of almost 25 years now.
For his longevity, dominance and putting darts on the map as a global game which is played to pack arenas, Phil Taylor is more than worthy of getting a nomination for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2013 when the shortlist is revealed next Tuesday night on The One Show.
Monday 18 November 2013
Wednesday 13 November 2013
Why Kenny Shiels would be a perfect fit for Inverness
With Terry Butcher finally being unveiled as Hibs manager yesterday, the Highland club are now on the search for a new manager.
It won't be an easy task replacing the Englishman who leaves Inverness Caledonian Thistle sitting second in the Scottish Premiership and with a second successive League Cup Semi Final against Hearts to look forward to in February.
However, the answer for Inverness could lie with a manager that was tipped at first to take over from Pat Fenlon at Hibs- Kenny Shiels. The Northern Irishman has been out of work since being controversially sacked by Kilmarnock in June but he has been keen to get back into a job and is surely more than capable of keeping Inverness flying high.
Butcher was a man who got the best out of his players by instilling a great team spirit within the dressing room and Shiels did likewise at Kilmarnock. He led the club to a memorable League Cup triumph in 2012, which was the clubs first trophy in 15 years and somewhat impressively, it was done without conceding a goal. And since 1997, only Livingston and Hibs had won the trophy outside the Old Firm duo, showing how hard it is for a smaller club like Kilmarnock to come through the pack.
Shiels also loved to play good passing football at Kilmarnock, something Butcher's players got well used under him. At home in particular Caley Thistle were strong under Butcher, winning five out of their six home games this season. Whilst Shiels only led Kilmarnock to five home wins last season, that shouldn't put Inverness off. This group of players have shown they have a will to win and will believe in Shiels's philosophy and tactics of quick passing and pressing high up the pitch.
And last season did include a memorable win over Celtic, Kilmarnock's first since 1955 at Parkhead. And Shiels also led Kilmarnock to two wins over Rangers during his tenure, showing that he doesn't have any fears of leading smaller teams out against the Glasgow giants, just like Butcher did during his reign in the Highlands. I'm not sure I can imagine the defensively minded Craig Levein doing that or former Caley boss John Robertson either who are also contenders for the hotseat.
Terry Butcher was a manager who somewhat surprisingly came to absolutely adore life in the Highlands and showed this when he turned down a move to Barnsley earlier this year. If Shiels's reign in Kilmarnock is anything to go by then he would do the exact same. There are reasons outwith football as to why a significant section of Kilmarnock fans want Shiels back- it's mainly because in his own words 'he fell in love with the club'.
Sometimes, this admittedly went over the score but on the whole I didn't think Shiels did anything wrong in his passionate backing for the club, the town and the community. Infact, more managers should be like Shiels and Butcher and make sure their clubs are represented positively in the press. Shiels even went as far as saying his clubs League Cup triumph in 2012 made his side the club of the year, despite Celtic reaching the last 16 of the Champions League.
Agree or disagree with his comments, Shiels once again was showing his love for the club and you can well imagine him saying things about Inverness's budget and how they are miles away from the hub of the Central belt of Glasgow and Edinburgh. Again, would a Levein, Robertson or even Paul Hartley be as outspoken as Shiels?
For me Shiels ticks most, if not all the boxes if Inverness want to continue their remarkable rise up the top league in the future. Inverness Chairman Kenny Cameron should be ringing Shiels's number without any hesitation.
It won't be an easy task replacing the Englishman who leaves Inverness Caledonian Thistle sitting second in the Scottish Premiership and with a second successive League Cup Semi Final against Hearts to look forward to in February.
However, the answer for Inverness could lie with a manager that was tipped at first to take over from Pat Fenlon at Hibs- Kenny Shiels. The Northern Irishman has been out of work since being controversially sacked by Kilmarnock in June but he has been keen to get back into a job and is surely more than capable of keeping Inverness flying high.
Butcher was a man who got the best out of his players by instilling a great team spirit within the dressing room and Shiels did likewise at Kilmarnock. He led the club to a memorable League Cup triumph in 2012, which was the clubs first trophy in 15 years and somewhat impressively, it was done without conceding a goal. And since 1997, only Livingston and Hibs had won the trophy outside the Old Firm duo, showing how hard it is for a smaller club like Kilmarnock to come through the pack.
Shiels also loved to play good passing football at Kilmarnock, something Butcher's players got well used under him. At home in particular Caley Thistle were strong under Butcher, winning five out of their six home games this season. Whilst Shiels only led Kilmarnock to five home wins last season, that shouldn't put Inverness off. This group of players have shown they have a will to win and will believe in Shiels's philosophy and tactics of quick passing and pressing high up the pitch.
And last season did include a memorable win over Celtic, Kilmarnock's first since 1955 at Parkhead. And Shiels also led Kilmarnock to two wins over Rangers during his tenure, showing that he doesn't have any fears of leading smaller teams out against the Glasgow giants, just like Butcher did during his reign in the Highlands. I'm not sure I can imagine the defensively minded Craig Levein doing that or former Caley boss John Robertson either who are also contenders for the hotseat.
Terry Butcher was a manager who somewhat surprisingly came to absolutely adore life in the Highlands and showed this when he turned down a move to Barnsley earlier this year. If Shiels's reign in Kilmarnock is anything to go by then he would do the exact same. There are reasons outwith football as to why a significant section of Kilmarnock fans want Shiels back- it's mainly because in his own words 'he fell in love with the club'.
Sometimes, this admittedly went over the score but on the whole I didn't think Shiels did anything wrong in his passionate backing for the club, the town and the community. Infact, more managers should be like Shiels and Butcher and make sure their clubs are represented positively in the press. Shiels even went as far as saying his clubs League Cup triumph in 2012 made his side the club of the year, despite Celtic reaching the last 16 of the Champions League.
Agree or disagree with his comments, Shiels once again was showing his love for the club and you can well imagine him saying things about Inverness's budget and how they are miles away from the hub of the Central belt of Glasgow and Edinburgh. Again, would a Levein, Robertson or even Paul Hartley be as outspoken as Shiels?
For me Shiels ticks most, if not all the boxes if Inverness want to continue their remarkable rise up the top league in the future. Inverness Chairman Kenny Cameron should be ringing Shiels's number without any hesitation.
Sunday 3 November 2013
The final fling: A preview of the ATP World Tour Finals
The world's eight best male tennis players (minus Andy Murray) will be at the 02 Arena in London this week as they compete in the end of season world tour finals.
Murray's absence shouldn't put British tennis fans off as this will be a week full of high quality tennis with lots of interesting sub-plots along the way.
Novak Djokovic will be looking to prove that he is still the best in the world, whilst Rafael Nadal will be looking to win the event for the first time. Can Roger Federer have one final swansong or will Juan Martin Del Potro continue his recent superb form?
With that in mind, let's look at the two groups of four who'll be lining up in the UK capital.
Group A:
Rafael Nadal ( Seed 1). Who could have predicted this time last year that Nadal would be lining up in London as World Number One and the man to beat? You'd have been a brave individual to bet on that. But here we are with Nadal having won two more grand slams this year (the French Open and the US Open) as well as Masters titles in Indian Wells, Rome, Madrid, Toronto and Cincinnati.
He might have lost to David Ferrer in the semi-finals in Paris yesterday, but Nadal will be very happy with his draw. He lines up against three players he has had the beating of on a regular basis over the years.
He has 20 wins out of 25 matches against David Ferrer, 16 wins out of 19 against Tomas Berdych and a perfect 11 wins out of 11 against Stanislas Wawrinka and will be big favourite to top this group.
David Ferrer (Seed 3): Nadal's fellow Spaniard has had something of a breakthrough year in 2013, particularly when he reached his first Grand Slam final at the French Open in June, before losing to that man Nadal.
He also reached a career high ranking of world number three and every player knows they are going to be in a battle with Ferrer when they take him on, no matter the surface. Slightly worrying for Ferrer is that despite reaching nine finals this year, he has only won two and they were both at the start of the year.
More positively, he has a winning record against both Berdych (7-3) and Wawrinka (7-4) so he'll fancy his chances of getting through the group.
Tomas Berdych (Seed 5) The Czech big-hitter is another consistent performer, but the question is- can he challenge the likes of Nadal and Djokovic at the very top here? He has hardly been handed a kind draw with losing records against all players (his 5-7 record against Wawrinka rounding out a poor sequence), but this is his fourth consecutive world tour finals appearance.
Berdych proved at Wimbledon in 2010 that he can beat the best as he enjoyed wins over Federer in the quarters and Djokovic in the semis before losing to Nadal in the final. However, that was over three years ago and you can't say he's kicked on since then. And even Wawrinka could pose a big threat to his chances since the Swiss star beat him at the US Open in August.
Stan Wawrinka (Seed 7) Wawrinka's performances since the summer have been sensational, enabling him to compete in his first World Tour Finals. He showed signs in January that he might finally be stepping out of countryman's Roger Federer's shadow, when he forced Novak Djokovic into a five hour, five set epic at the Australian Open, but he really delivered at the US Open when he beat Berdych, before thrashing Murray in the quarter finals.
And he arguably should have defeated Djokovic in his first ever grand slam semi-final when he had a two sets to one lead. The belief is there now with Wawrinka and whilst he might have prefered a group without Nadal, he can nick in to take the second spot away from the fancied Ferrer.
Prediction
1. Nadal
2. Wawrinka
3. Ferrer
4. Berdych
Group B
Novak Djokovic (Seed 2) Last years winner Djokovic has been drawn in a tough group, but the Serb has never been a player to shirk a challenge. He might have lost his number one ranking to Nadal, but there can be no denying he's still had a good year.
He became the first man in the 'Open Era' to win three consecutive Australian Opens when he defeated Murray in January and he also made the finals at Wimbledon and the US Open.
Add in Masters titles in Monte Carlo and Shanghai as well as a French Open semi-final, the Serb has hardly hit a crisis by falling to number two in the world. He might have a losing record against Federer, but would always be big favourite to beat him nowadays whilst against Del Potro he has a record of 10 wins in 13 matches and against Richard Gasquet, it's nine wins from 10 meetings. Like Nadal, I expect the top seed to top the group.
Juan Martin Del Potro (Seed 4) The Argentinian is slowly reproducing his best form and says himself he is playing his best tennis since 2009, when he won the US Open and reached the final of this event.
He has again been hampered somewhat with injuries again this year, causing him to miss the French Open whilst he suffered early exits at both the Australian and US Opens. However, he was brilliant at Wimbledon, pushing Djokovic all the way in a five set thriller in the semis and in recent weeks he has been in great form. He has won titles in Switzerland and Japan as well as reaching a final in China.
His huge forehand and sheer presence of being 6 foot 6 make him my darkhorse to go all the way in London.
Roger Federer (Seed 6) The 17 times record slam winner may have qualified for a 12th consecutive end of season final event, but there can be no doubting he is not as good as he used to be. If you exclude his Wimbledon triumph of last year, he is without a slam since 2010 and has fallen to number six in the world.
Players simply don't fear him anymore and that can be typified by his defeats to Murray, Jo Wilfried Tsonga, Tommy Robredo and the unheralded Sergiy Stakhovsky in the Grand Slams of 2013. Indeed, this is the first year Federer failed to reach a slam final since 2002 and his body is definitely slowing down.
He is still capable of moments of magic as he proved last week when he came from a set down to beat Del Potro in Paris, but those days are becoming rarer and rarer and he has only won one title this season.
Djokovic and Del Potro will prove too strong for Federer, so it will be a group stage exit for the fans favourite.
Richard Gasquet (Seed 8) Gasquet will be going out to prove to critics that he isn't simply there to make up the numbers this week. The Frenchman is in London on merit having won three titles this year and he reached the US Open semi finals.
His single-handed backhand is one to behold (like Federer's and Wawrinka's too) and in a shorter format, he can be a danger to anyone. However, with a combined four wins against his three group stage opponents, it's hard to see how Gasquet can get out of the group.
His mental ability can also be called into question, so he'll need to be at his very best to beat three superb players.
Prediction
1. Djokovic
2. Del Potro
3. Federer
4. Gasquet
It all starts tomorrow at 2pm with Berdych and Wawrinka getting things underway before Del Potro and Gasquet take to the court at 8pm. Then on Tuesday it's the ties of Nadal V Ferrer and Djokovic V Federer.
Murray's absence shouldn't put British tennis fans off as this will be a week full of high quality tennis with lots of interesting sub-plots along the way.
Novak Djokovic will be looking to prove that he is still the best in the world, whilst Rafael Nadal will be looking to win the event for the first time. Can Roger Federer have one final swansong or will Juan Martin Del Potro continue his recent superb form?
With that in mind, let's look at the two groups of four who'll be lining up in the UK capital.
Group A:
Rafael Nadal ( Seed 1). Who could have predicted this time last year that Nadal would be lining up in London as World Number One and the man to beat? You'd have been a brave individual to bet on that. But here we are with Nadal having won two more grand slams this year (the French Open and the US Open) as well as Masters titles in Indian Wells, Rome, Madrid, Toronto and Cincinnati.
He might have lost to David Ferrer in the semi-finals in Paris yesterday, but Nadal will be very happy with his draw. He lines up against three players he has had the beating of on a regular basis over the years.
He has 20 wins out of 25 matches against David Ferrer, 16 wins out of 19 against Tomas Berdych and a perfect 11 wins out of 11 against Stanislas Wawrinka and will be big favourite to top this group.
David Ferrer (Seed 3): Nadal's fellow Spaniard has had something of a breakthrough year in 2013, particularly when he reached his first Grand Slam final at the French Open in June, before losing to that man Nadal.
He also reached a career high ranking of world number three and every player knows they are going to be in a battle with Ferrer when they take him on, no matter the surface. Slightly worrying for Ferrer is that despite reaching nine finals this year, he has only won two and they were both at the start of the year.
More positively, he has a winning record against both Berdych (7-3) and Wawrinka (7-4) so he'll fancy his chances of getting through the group.
Tomas Berdych (Seed 5) The Czech big-hitter is another consistent performer, but the question is- can he challenge the likes of Nadal and Djokovic at the very top here? He has hardly been handed a kind draw with losing records against all players (his 5-7 record against Wawrinka rounding out a poor sequence), but this is his fourth consecutive world tour finals appearance.
Berdych proved at Wimbledon in 2010 that he can beat the best as he enjoyed wins over Federer in the quarters and Djokovic in the semis before losing to Nadal in the final. However, that was over three years ago and you can't say he's kicked on since then. And even Wawrinka could pose a big threat to his chances since the Swiss star beat him at the US Open in August.
Stan Wawrinka (Seed 7) Wawrinka's performances since the summer have been sensational, enabling him to compete in his first World Tour Finals. He showed signs in January that he might finally be stepping out of countryman's Roger Federer's shadow, when he forced Novak Djokovic into a five hour, five set epic at the Australian Open, but he really delivered at the US Open when he beat Berdych, before thrashing Murray in the quarter finals.
And he arguably should have defeated Djokovic in his first ever grand slam semi-final when he had a two sets to one lead. The belief is there now with Wawrinka and whilst he might have prefered a group without Nadal, he can nick in to take the second spot away from the fancied Ferrer.
Prediction
1. Nadal
2. Wawrinka
3. Ferrer
4. Berdych
Group B
Novak Djokovic (Seed 2) Last years winner Djokovic has been drawn in a tough group, but the Serb has never been a player to shirk a challenge. He might have lost his number one ranking to Nadal, but there can be no denying he's still had a good year.
He became the first man in the 'Open Era' to win three consecutive Australian Opens when he defeated Murray in January and he also made the finals at Wimbledon and the US Open.
Add in Masters titles in Monte Carlo and Shanghai as well as a French Open semi-final, the Serb has hardly hit a crisis by falling to number two in the world. He might have a losing record against Federer, but would always be big favourite to beat him nowadays whilst against Del Potro he has a record of 10 wins in 13 matches and against Richard Gasquet, it's nine wins from 10 meetings. Like Nadal, I expect the top seed to top the group.
Juan Martin Del Potro (Seed 4) The Argentinian is slowly reproducing his best form and says himself he is playing his best tennis since 2009, when he won the US Open and reached the final of this event.
He has again been hampered somewhat with injuries again this year, causing him to miss the French Open whilst he suffered early exits at both the Australian and US Opens. However, he was brilliant at Wimbledon, pushing Djokovic all the way in a five set thriller in the semis and in recent weeks he has been in great form. He has won titles in Switzerland and Japan as well as reaching a final in China.
His huge forehand and sheer presence of being 6 foot 6 make him my darkhorse to go all the way in London.
Roger Federer (Seed 6) The 17 times record slam winner may have qualified for a 12th consecutive end of season final event, but there can be no doubting he is not as good as he used to be. If you exclude his Wimbledon triumph of last year, he is without a slam since 2010 and has fallen to number six in the world.
Players simply don't fear him anymore and that can be typified by his defeats to Murray, Jo Wilfried Tsonga, Tommy Robredo and the unheralded Sergiy Stakhovsky in the Grand Slams of 2013. Indeed, this is the first year Federer failed to reach a slam final since 2002 and his body is definitely slowing down.
He is still capable of moments of magic as he proved last week when he came from a set down to beat Del Potro in Paris, but those days are becoming rarer and rarer and he has only won one title this season.
Djokovic and Del Potro will prove too strong for Federer, so it will be a group stage exit for the fans favourite.
Richard Gasquet (Seed 8) Gasquet will be going out to prove to critics that he isn't simply there to make up the numbers this week. The Frenchman is in London on merit having won three titles this year and he reached the US Open semi finals.
His single-handed backhand is one to behold (like Federer's and Wawrinka's too) and in a shorter format, he can be a danger to anyone. However, with a combined four wins against his three group stage opponents, it's hard to see how Gasquet can get out of the group.
His mental ability can also be called into question, so he'll need to be at his very best to beat three superb players.
Prediction
1. Djokovic
2. Del Potro
3. Federer
4. Gasquet
It all starts tomorrow at 2pm with Berdych and Wawrinka getting things underway before Del Potro and Gasquet take to the court at 8pm. Then on Tuesday it's the ties of Nadal V Ferrer and Djokovic V Federer.
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