espanyolswan wrote:Hard to say as I do not think the likes of Hamilton, Lewis, Baxter etc in and around the Top 10 are getting any better, take away King and no one has really made a massive impact despite some top players being displaced. Anderson will be up there in no time but him apart people you might have expected to push on have not ie. Thornton, Tabern, Osbourne. Perhaps the fact Taylor is so dominant means average players have average ambitions and the are happy to make quarter finals and the odd semi without having a real winning mentality and the fact they can make £150k a year doing that probably does not help in driving themselves forward.

barton baird wrote:For me Wade ,King and Anderson could give Taylor a challenge on their day. Although love or hate him,Taylor is obviously in a league of his own.
(Although in one of the "I love darts" magazine,Hankey did state Taylor was scared to play him. )

barton baird wrote:Agree there,Manley is a good player and he can take the flak from the crowd.
To me Mardle is trying to be more of a showman ,than a darts player.
As for John Part,I feel hughely disappointed about his form,always been one of my favourite players.Is it the travelling,or is it the fact there are a lot more excellent players out there that has caused his dip in form?

Nemanja wrote:Isn't Mardle affected by a health problem ATM?

espanyolswan wrote:He is but he has been on the slide since his exit to Kirk Shepherd in the World Champs 2 years ago and the way the rankings work his illness has only had a partial effect on his fall.

Nemanja wrote:Oh yeah, no doubt. But the illness won't help him improve his performance.

It's a shame for the sport really, it needs characters like Mardle to be doing well and doing well in tournaments, because he gets crowds going.

espanyolswan wrote:Agreed though he does not help himself as often he goes too far in the walk on and lets the first few legs slip away without getting into them. He struggles to get the balance between the showman and the darts player right I am affraid.

Nemanja wrote:The problem is, the crowd expect big things from Mardle during his walk. That's all part of the Mardle package, I agree, he definitely needs to improve the way he starts matches as that is his problem, by the time he gets going, he is often too far away to win the match.

On his day, he is as good as anybody else, he just doesn't seem to have "his day" too often, not lately anyway.

I imagine he'll still get one of the wildcards for the Premier League just because he is such a big crowd pleaser and atmosphere creater, which Sky and the PDC ultimately want.

Nemanja wrote:Isn't Mardle affected by a health problem ATM?

espanyolswan wrote:I've been saying for ages I think it will be Anderson and Priestley (as he is supposed to be quitting next year) but time will tell.