Bit of Honesty

[Ross]

Who really thought James would beat Barney ?

Who actually managed to win a good bit of money before xmas backing James to win

[The Suit]

Thought he would win, but not 3-0. I just went on the theory that James has echoed the vast majority of Mark H's 1st year and could not see him going home 1st round. The defeats of Barney by both Ian White and Scott Rand increased my belief that he was vulnerable to `unknown' players. The other opponents of recent TV were known to him and or wound him up (Bomber Brown), thus james was always a good shout.

Have to be honest though I did not back him as I don't back anyone in comps that Mark contests.

It is superb to see more new boys coming in from unconventional routes and really shaking things up, in my view, although it will be harder with new calender and systems coming in, Mark, Scott, Nigel, Steve Farmer and now James really have blazed a trail for any player who believes he/she has the talent, or that other believe in, to really step forward and give it their best shot. There are no excuses anymore.

[GtotheF]

I predicted Barney 3-2 but for me the key was always James and how he handled the occasion.

I genuinely thought he had a shot.

[WCDPA]

Any player who gets to a pc final has a chance of beating anyone that includes phil, James body language was superb oozed confidence and there wasn't a negative bone in his body.
IMO he sent out the message he expected to win not he was hoping to do well.
Paul Gillings had a chat with Deta at the end of last January and at Blackpool England masters a video analysis , she spotted something and changed it for the world cup that seems to be paying dividends ! nothing to do with her throw though just her posture!all about looking positive.
James's performance is a massive incentive for a lot of players, a certain Richie howson a county stalwart of Essex is giving QS a go and I can see similarities between him and James .

[DavidB]

Any player who gets to a pc final has a chance of beating anyone that includes phil, James body language was superb oozed confidence and there wasn't a negative bone in his body.
IMO he sent out the message he expected to win not he was hoping to do well.
Paul Gillings had a chat with Deta at the end of last January and at Blackpool England masters a video analysis , she spotted something and changed it for the world cup that seems to be paying dividends ! nothing to do with her throw though just her posture!all about looking positive.
James's performance is a massive incentive for a lot of players, a certain Richie howson a county stalwart of Essex is giving QS a go and I can see similarities between him and James .

And much like Scott Rand, Richardson clearly wants to play on tv - it's great to see these players take their chance like that now!!!

[trotter]

i thought 3-0 Barney.....to me the Worlds are what Barney plays for and he usually plays pretty well in them , especially early on..and to make your TV debut in the Worlds in that sort of arena i thought would be too much...but how wrong was i !!
It is great to see players fearless on the TV...Rand, Richardson, Hylton....none were big names and much much bigger names have come across and not done nearly as well..it does show the PDC is not a closed shop and talent and belief and determination can get you everywhere
if Barney had had half of Richardson's drive and desire last night then i would have been right with 3-0...i was well impressed with James Richardson and his attitude..and his interview.

[SRW]

I did thought it would be 3 - 1 to Richardson I even said in another thread hours before the game Barney would get pummeled.

[Shell]

Rushden bookies took a massive hit! Northants believed in him One guy had £30 at 40/1 for him to win 3-0... nice xmas bonus!

[snakehipsx2]

Rushden bookies took a massive hit! Northants believed in him One guy had £30 at 40/1 for him to win 3-0... nice xmas bonus!

Was his name Adie?

[Bruce Terrett]

I'm not really a punter, but had a quid on James at 8/1, and then another quid at 6s.
Thanks James, will get you a drink at the next Pro Tour event I'm marking!

[and the Iron Fist]

Thought he would win, but not 3-0. I just went on the theory that James has echoed the vast majority of Mark H's 1st year and could not see him going home 1st round. The defeats of Barney by both Ian White and Scott Rand increased my belief that he was vulnerable to `unknown' players. The other opponents of recent TV were known to him and or wound him up (Bomber Brown), thus james was always a good shout.

Have to be honest though I did not back him as I don't back anyone in comps that Mark contests.

It is superb to see more new boys coming in from unconventional routes and really shaking things up, in my view, although it will be harder with new calender and systems coming in, Mark, Scott, Nigel, Steve Farmer and now James really have blazed a trail for any player who believes he/she has the talent, or that other believe in, to really step forward and give it their best shot. There are no excuses anymore.

Do you have to bring Mark Hylton into every single thread you post in? I like the fella but please, give it a rest.

I agree with your last sentence. Too many guys proving that the floor to stage transistion doesn't have to be a long, hard slog right now to give very much credence to the perpetual excuses of certain other players (not to mention the BDO players who do it at Lakeside and the Grand Slam). And the players doing it often are not even among the top floor performers.

In my opinion (seeing as this thread is titled 'bit of honesty'), i'm increasingly of the mind that the PDC pro tour of floor events is soft darts for soft people, breeding a generation of players who can't hack it on TV by coddling them in these closed doors events and building their egos into thinking they're better than they really are. Look at how quickly BDO players adjust to TV. Some of them come into the Grand Slam with only Lakeside experience, and that not much, and they usually look a damn sight better than the pro tour guys. Sorry, i'm getting fed up of the excuses and becoming less and less convinced by the PDC pro tour all the time. Look at Kim Huybrechts: two PDC TV events, great win ratio, very few floor events.

[DamienBhoy]

I predicted a barney win in my entry for the stars of darts comp...
I put 50 euro on James Plus 2.5 legs which meant he had to win just one set which was 4/5
I put 20e on James at 2/1 when he went 1-0 up in sets

[Krispy]

I hoped that James would win, but thought that Barney would - I'll admit that.

The only person who mattered that night was James himself, who obviously KNEW he was going to win!

[The Suit]

Thought he would win, but not 3-0. I just went on the theory that James has echoed the vast majority of Mark H's 1st year and could not see him going home 1st round. The defeats of Barney by both Ian White and Scott Rand increased my belief that he was vulnerable to `unknown' players. The other opponents of recent TV were known to him and or wound him up (Bomber Brown), thus james was always a good shout.

Have to be honest though I did not back him as I don't back anyone in comps that Mark contests.

It is superb to see more new boys coming in from unconventional routes and really shaking things up, in my view, although it will be harder with new calender and systems coming in, Mark, Scott, Nigel, Steve Farmer and now James really have blazed a trail for any player who believes he/she has the talent, or that other believe in, to really step forward and give it their best shot. There are no excuses anymore.

Sorry to use the same example all the time! but it is a good one, if you look at James's year it is remarkably similar, slowish start, steady improvement,very good Open form, few big scalps then bang PDC Floor final. World Qualification from a very similar amount of money (less comps but more money for each so equal I would say). I had mentioned this quite a while ago and genuinely thought the two were incredibly similar. If you swap James UK Open qualification for the other persons Grand Slam they could be identical. Now James is doing the same at Ally Pally reproducing what he knows he can do against anyone he comes up against.
You will note that I often mention others from a similar position, but in this case one comparison was closer!

[Adie]

I hoped that James would win, but thought that Barney would - I'll admit that.

The only person who mattered that night was James himself, who obviously KNEW he was going to win!

Bang on Krispy, i thought i would have to put a lead on him. He was wanting to get up there at 5.00 lol