He believed he was the best player in the world then. By his own admission one of his aims when he joined the PDC was to prove he was better than Taylor. He was sure he was, and in that final he played like it. It was amazing to watch.

However, self doubt has gradually crept in, and surely anyone who regularly watches darts can see that. When he's on fire he's really on fire, but when his head goes he struggles, and at times you get the feeling he's resigned himself to losing to Taylor before the match even starts. That's understandable for average players, but a Barney full of confidence and firing on all cylinders, a la 2007, has nothing to fear.

I'll be suprised if anybody apart from Taylor wins it. His nearest challengers are James Wade, Barney, Simon Witlock and Adiran Lewis IMO. I love watching Lewis play.

Also, how good is Co Stompe for entertainment value?

gary anderson should go well now he's adapted to the pdc circuit,tremendous scorer,taylor is the best ever thrower but i think a few cracks have started to appear this year and if someone gets into him in the earlier rounds he might not have it all his own way.

A darkhorse is Mark Webster, 33/1 at William Hills.

Thanks for clearing an argument up. I always thought Black Beauty was the dark horse. Its Whitlock who I think could win in outside Taylor & Wade.

Mark Webster

If you are backing webster get down to ladbrokes, 40/1 in there.

Adrian Lewis shouldn't even be put in the same sentence as the above. Whitlock has showed he has championship material by being a finalist in the PDC and the BDO tournament. Wade has shown his class and is a multiple major winner (yes, he did beat Lewis in the World GP earlier this year), and Barney, well, everyone knows about Barney.

Lewis doesn't have the darts, nor the mental agility to become a champion. He gets wound up easily (see the videos of him and Manley for instance) and despite him being a big scorer at times, he's terrible on his doubles. The only achievement he's ever had is finally beating Taylor on television to reach the final of the World GP, but Taylor was well off his game that night (averaging a mere 92) and when he got to the final, Wade beat him with a shocking 88 average).

I only included Lewis because of his win against Taylor but I see him as a threat. People also forget how old he is, I think he's 25 so he definitley has time on his side and alot of work and effort to put in. I do think Lewis will make the SF's.

Also, I've had a fiver on Mark Webster each way to reach the final with Ladbrokes after hearing yesterday on here that he was 40/1.

Surprised to see Beaton out, thought he was one of the better ones?

Sad to see how far Rafa has fallen that he must have left Inter now as he's playing against Phil Taylor in darts now. He's not very good at that either.

Wade does alright until the crowd start singing about his girlfriend and then he starts losing it mentally, so won't win it imo.
Lewis is probably the most talented darts player when on his game and can beat anyone, apart from Taylor who he always seems beat against before the start. Problem for Lewis is that the top players know how to get into him verbally and disrupt his flow.

Re: Barney. One of the saddest sights I've seen was when he played in the Las Vegas final against Taylor. Had a bad start but clawed the deficit back to something like 5-3 when he had a double to be only one leg behind. He missed and Taylor went ahead. He then just fell to pieces and it was like watching someone breaking down mentally on stage as he began throwing his darts anywhere at one stage and shrugging his shoulders.
Even Taylor looked really comfortable as he won. I dont think he's got it in him on that hot stage to hold it together for two weeks. My money would be on Whitlock who was fantastic last year in his debut at the Pally.

A cheeky little e/w on Webster (who's been backed into 16/1 from 40/1) is still value.

And I've had a fiver on it at 40's.

Like Whitlock, he'll benefit from playing here last year where he started the tournament very well. I think he'll beat Taylor if both get through.

Wasn't he ranked number one in the BDO, before switching.

DOn't think he was before switching, but he has been BDO world number one for a brief period of time.

enjoying it..got a feeling taylor wont win it(no doubt i`ll be proved wrong)..now that wades out i`ll have a few quid of my ashes winnings on gary anderson, whitlock..and an each way bet on the bull terry jenkins..

Anyone "doing" Frimley Green next week?

Anderson is on fire against priestley.... Great match this one.

111 average for Anderson......ouch!

I backed Anderson at the start each way his odds were 16/1.
Good win against Priestly and i think he'll beat the winner of King v Smith aswell...

got 12-1 on anderson and 50`s on jenkins e.w.pity whitlock went out...anderson is on fire atm gonna take a good un to beat him..12-1 looks very generous he`s now 4-1 2nd fav

I had a fiver on Webster EW, at 40/1, he meets Taylor next. Barney in trouble here against The Wizard, Colin Osbourne.

when is the world pool championship on?

like most of your posts your talking sh!T

Which part?