Phil Taylor: Ireland was a nightmare

buster180

Poor thing... Its the same for all the players



Darts star Phil Taylor says that the World Grand Prix in Dublin earlier this week was "a nightmare" after fans booed his wayward throws.



Taylor, who is currently promoting his autobiography Staying Power: A Year in My Life by Phil Taylor, was knocked out at the quarter-final stage by James Wade and says the crowd were unforgiving.
“It’s the same with Manchester United,” he says. “People get jealous. Ireland was a nightmare. A lot of it’s to do with betting. But if you’re playing well, it doesn’t bother you.”
These days, Taylor has more than arrows to worry about. He has a book to promote. The divorce lawyers are still circling. His mother Liz has just gone into hospital.
When I meet him, he has not thrown a dart in a week. Which raises the question: How long until ‘The Power’ finally goes out? “At least another two or three years,” Taylor says optimistically. “But now is the time to start cutting back.”
The end is near, then, for a player who has won 16 World Championships and racked up many more miles on the clock. “I hate suitcases,” he says. “With a passion. I’ve got suitcases in my spare bedroom that are still half-full after about six months.
“It does your head in. You’re missing everything. Your children are growing up. My grandkids are growing up. I want to spend a bit of time with them.”
It seems Taylor has come full circle. After all, it was from relatively humble beginnings that he emerged: a bloke from the ceramics factory in Stoke-on-Trent who became the greatest of them all. “I grew up in Mill Hill,” he remembers. “All potteries, mining. Then once Maggie Thatcher closed the pits down, it became a bit depressed. The pottery industry is more or less gone. The old factories, where there were thousands of workers. They’ve all been knocked down.”
And yet by some quirk of geography, Stoke has become the centre of the darting universe, producing not only Taylor but Adrian Lewis and world finalist Andy Hamilton. “Because there’s nothing else to do!” Taylor says. “Stoke’s a depressed area, so people are working hard to get out of it. Andy was a very hard worker. I was the same. I had three jobs.”
His first big darts cheque was for £500. “The fella paid me in £50 notes,” he remembers. “I didn’t even know they existed. So I went looking for him. I said: ‘You can have that back, that Monopoly money you’ve given me.’”
Now, a lifetime later, Taylor is a rich man. In his younger days, he assembled a menagerie of fast cars and an enviable property portfolio. Yet time has altered his perspective on money. “If the holiday homes and the houses went, I wouldn’t be bothered. Once you start earning good money, that’s the unhappy times. Because a lot of problems come with it. You could be an angel and there would still be people running you down. If I gave £50,000 to charity, they’d say I should have given £60,000.”
This is the other side to Taylor, then: even in the twilight of his playing days there will always be a part of him that burns with resentment, still yearns to prove people wrong. For all the strides darts has made in two decades, it still struggles to command respect as a national sport. And that rankles. “We’ve always got the stigma. It wouldn’t matter if I won 100 World Championships. I think it’s just plain snobbery.”
The trouble is, for much of the last year, Taylor was not playing well. Of course, he has had professional slumps before. He has had personal lows, too, even contemplating suicide after being convicted of indecent assault in 2001. But not until the last year have the two spheres conspired against him to such an extent.
At the start of 2014, Taylor was, in his own words, “depressed”. His marriage of 26 years was breaking down. His new sponsor was being sued by his old sponsor. And having crashed out of the World Championship in round two, he was playing some of the worst darts of his career, dragging himself on stage night after night. “You’ve got no choice,” he says of that period. “You’ve got to try and block everything out for that hour. Because it’s there when you come back off stage. You’re getting divorced, or you’re seeing solicitors, or you’re going to court with an ex‑sponsor.”
Eventually, Taylor’s form picked up. He stormed to the World Matchplay title in July, the month his divorce was finalised, and he is now gearing up for the World Championships in December. Is he out of the woods yet? “Not yet. There’s still things happening in my life. Lawyers keep sending me bills. My job is to pay them. And the PDC [Professional Darts Corporation, the governing body] still need me. The day is coming when they won’t need me, so I can gently fade away.” When he does, there is a sense that nothing will quite be the same again.
There are new stars of the game, younger players such as Lewis and Michael van Gerwen and Gary Anderson. But the next Phil Taylor? “I don’t think there will be one,” he says. “Players will have little golden patches. Van Gerwen has been quite consistent for about 12 months now.” But the days of a player winning 16 world titles? Taylor replies without hesitation. “Gone.”
Telegraph.co.uk

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Devastator

He's horrible!

Had no problem for years, called other players out for being "bad sports" when the crowd were 100% behind him and giving a bit to his opponents, now the tide has turned and he's moaning about it. I remember many times seeing him standing behind his opponent(throwing) and he couldn't hide the smug little grin because the other guy was getting a bit of abuse.

sc86

poor phil .......

mickdw

Taylor is a hateful arrogant pr*ck.

Ronan|Raven

He will think Edinburgh was even worse!

Devastator

Ronan|Raven wrote: »

He will think Edinburgh was even worse!

Did you see him in the semi vs Wade? Nearly looked like he was about to spit his dummy out and walk off stage! He was losing at the time and maybe trying to slow down Wade who was within leg or 2 of winning

Will I Amnt

“Ireland was a nightmare. A lot of it’s to do with betting"

Betting my arse. He's such a narcissist, he can't accept that a lot of people just don't like him.

Devastator

Will I Amnt wrote: »

“Ireland was a nightmare. A lot of it’s to do with betting"

Betting my arse. He's such a narcissist, he can't accept that a lot of people just don't like him.

Its true!

A few years ago at the PL I wrote Phil "The Patronizer" Taylor, we were at front row table and never thought any more of it....until I was watching the replay back a while later on tv and when he got on stage he glared down in direction of our table and looked like he was gurning

Beat it up him, sure Phil we come along and pay our hard earned money that is your prize money and we are just having a good time...wasn't that what you used to spout when the crowd helped you win games against opponents?

marklazarcovic

hopefully he dont come back

marklazarcovic

marklazarcovic wrote: »

hopefully he dont come back

Ah now.

He is painful, obnoxious, arrogant etc. But for me that is a secondary issue to the main one, his ability. He is the greatest, and he dragged the sport out of the mire. And possibly the greatest player to dominate any sport, he was so far out of sight of the chasing pack for years. Age is catching up with him, and he is getting crankier.

I don't like him, but Inhave huge respect for him. it'll be a sad day for the sport when he goes.

Nanastick

Deleted User wrote: »

Ah now.

He is painful, obnoxious, arrogant etc. But for me that is a secondary issue to the main one, his ability. He is the greatest, and he dragged the sport out of the mire. And possibly the greatest player to dominate any sport, he was so far out of sight of the chasing pack for years. Age is catching up with him, and he is getting crankier.

I don't like him, but Inhave huge respect for him. it'll be a sad day for the sport when he goes.

Agreed, but he is an arrogant so and so.

briany

Deleted User wrote: »

Ah now.

He is painful, obnoxious, arrogant etc. But for me that is a secondary issue to the main one, his ability. He is the greatest, and he dragged the sport out of the mire. And possibly the greatest player to dominate any sport, he was so far out of sight of the chasing pack for years. Age is catching up with him, and he is getting crankier.

I don't like him, but Inhave huge respect for him. it'll be a sad day for the sport when he goes.

I'm convinced a big part of the reason for the PDC's high standard is that Phil has been the benchmark for so many years, and still if you had him at his peak almost no-one would be able to catch him. Even though the players are full-time, human nature dictates that you only do enough. I think when Taylor goes, the standard it takes to win will slacken. It won't be dramatic but we may not see the dizzying highs we have enjoyed.

Backstreet Moyes

briany wrote: »

I'm convinced a big part of the reason for the PDC's high standard is that Phil has been the benchmark for so many years, and still if you had him at his peak almost no-one would be able to catch him. Even though the players are full-time, human nature dictates that you only do enough. I think when Taylor goes, the standard it takes to win will slacken. It won't be dramatic but we may not see the dizzying highs we have enjoyed.

I think it will be the total opposite really. Without Taylor smaller players will enjoy deeper runs meaning smaller players picking up more prize money and focusing full time on the game.

Devastator

briany wrote: »

I think when Taylor goes, the standard it takes to win will slacken. It won't be dramatic but we may not see the dizzying highs we have enjoyed.

I dont agree with that part, nowadays there are more players, more tournaments and the standard has went up(due to taylor) but theres a handful of players now you nearly expect 100+ average every game, in a similar way to what we would have expected of taylor. Its mad to think but likes of MVG,Wade,Lewis are the old heads now compared to Keegan Brown but all still young enough that they could be there on the stage for the next 20 years pushing eachother to get better & better

Nuts102

Nuts102 wrote: »

I think it will be the total opposite really. Without Taylor smaller players will enjoy deeper runs meaning smaller players picking up more prize money and focusing full time on the game.

Without him, they'll all move up one place in the rankings, there will be one space only freed up on the PDC tour with its limited entry.

Not sure the money difference between each ranking is so great that that will transform the game

shockframe

I'd be slightly worried for the game in the years ahead if the GSOD is anything to go by.

Taylor still is the big draw for the casual darts fan so when he goes he leaves considerable shoes to fill. Barney looks like he is gone completely now aswell so its not unlike the early 90s where Bristow and Jockey faded around the same time.The rivalry is the one that defines the PDC and although the MVG-lewis games are absolute belters it wont have anything like the Barney-Taylor msytique.

The performance of the BDO players in the Grand Slam is a worry as regards their organization. For years people knocked it at every oppurtunity when it was complete c''' but it may be a case that they might be right as of now., Dekker,George, Harms, Waites O'Shea to a lesser extent were dismal this time around and even in the knockout stages Bunting (at the GSOD due to BDO) was the only one to do well.

Over the years Anderson, Whitlock,Waites, Ted, Thornton etc did well in this after crossing over but there looks like a dearth of talent in the BDO at the moment with Bunting possibly the last star youth player to emerge. The likes of Michael Smith and Keegan Brown are going directly through PDC now and if they dont perform early they could have short careers.

The early rounds of the GSOD have been the worst ever and the lower ranked players of the PDC are in a bad state aswell.Only King from the last decade or so is staying afloat and 16-32 in the PDC Order of Merit looks grim at large.

If the BDO goes into a long term lull that wont be good for the game in general.The top 10 or so players will still produce gripping contests worthy of watching anytime but if the standard dips outside of that which is looking likely Darts will suffer.

Devastator

I don't think the Taylor/Barney rivalry has existed for a few years(in fans minds). I don't like either but I got sick of their apparent rivalry & then them having love in's on stage/interviews over eachother. There are other bigger relevant rivalries that have emerged in the last few years.

Agree about the BDO boys, must be hard for them not playing many stage darts to turn it on for 1 tournament. Hopefully the rumours about the BDO removing the 1yr ban on playing in PDC/Q school do come into effect, the ban only hurts the player. The more games that the BDO boys can play the better they are going to get when they play higher caliber players on a more consistent basis