Grow Up Mark Allen

[the montrealer]

Some players are spoiled brats if you do not like the way the game is played today go get another job thats my opinion

[attilahun]

if you do not like the way the game is played today go get another job thats my opinion

Maybe tomorrow Hearn will put them to play with a broom stick ...and people will say...hey that is the way the game is played today.
I think Hearn should at least listen to what the players have to say. Without the players you will watch Hearn playing snooker against Rodney Walker on Sky. But maybe you will be satisfied and say ...that is the way the game is played today.....

[johnsusername]

I thought the gaffer tape over the mouth was brilliant! He's got every right to say what he wants, within reason. Maybe he's tried to take it up behind closed doors but no one would listen?

Either way, he's playing very well and could win the championship - and would that mean he's better suited to the shorter format?!

[Looki]

Let's hope he'll turn into "one of the nicest guys in the circuit" so that people can get back whining there are only boring non-characters in snooker nowadays.

[tornado taylor]

Good on him I say. Atleast he has the balls to speak his mind unlike some

[Luke Hooper]

i think mark allen is fantastic, a real character.... yeah ok he is offensive sometimes, but deal with it, i think that is what snooker needs, a bit of controversy or a character (other than ronnie) in the game that will rebel against things... it spices things up a bit... ronnie is the only other real character but he just moans about how he is not cueing to his max capabilities even if he wins etc etc... Mark just said what everyone else was thinking, just pretty bluntly. fair play to him!

[hotpot]

Agree 200 % we deffo need more characters that are individuals and not robots who can speak their mind otherwise they,ll just be like politicians , gagged .

[CueAntW147]

Mark Allens a good kid who likes to play entertaining snooker, has banter with the crowd even on the walk on & with whoever he's playing usually, if they too have a sense of humour ;-)
I've not got a problem with what he's said so far & it would be a very dull world if we were all the same, he's just letting his personality come through & his thoughts, look at some of the Alex Higgins press conferences which never did the game any harm !
I'm sure Barry won't mind the publicity really..........this bit of controversy is much better than the betting scandal type of thing thats been going on the past.
On the playing side he showed lots of bottle against Marco last night & he seems to have the support of the fans despite or maybe even because of what he said not to mention the way he plays the game ;-)

[cazmac1]

Let's hope he'll turn into "one of the nicest guys in the circuit" so that people can get back whining there are only boring non-characters in snooker nowadays.

careful looki, you might set those "what's wrong with today's player off" Plenty lol

[abbadan09]

I think Hearn is right to tell Allen off. But it's up to Hearn how he runs the sport more matches are much better than there was.

[147harry]

can you imagine if Mark Allen gets to the final, Barry Hearn will have to shake his hand and present him with a cheque, that will be somewhat... awkward!!

[abbadan09]

indeed 147 harry I agree with you there.

[gavpowell]

can you imagine if Mark Allen gets to the final, Barry Hearn will have to shake his hand and present him with a cheque, that will be somewhat... awkward!!

Already been established Hearn is away until after the tournament - Jason Ferguson will present the trophy. Slightly less awkward.

[FerruleFox]

I don't like the shorter frames as much as the next guy.....but it was the BBC's idea, and what would happen to the tour if the BBC dropped the UK?

Seriously, people need to start facing realities. The game in Canada is dead because nobody gets a chance to watch anymore. You guys are living in a dream world if you think the BBC isn't a HUGE part of the continued success of the sport. Unless you want to send the WC to China (because they'll be glad to host it)?

[wake_up_bomb]

Firstly he slates Stuart Bingham for being a bottle job and now thinks he has the right to criticise Barry Hearn !! The boy is barely out of his pram, how could he possibly know the complexities of running an organisation and trying to get sponsors onboard.

I must say, I've heard him and Ronnie moaning about the money situation for PTC events. What they don't seem to understand is, you can't get money off a money tree (well, you can if you're a central bank, but that's beside the point...), it has to be provided through sponsorship. It's obvious to me that Hearn is trying to create markets abroad for the game, and reach the point where you can have events as big as the UK Championships in numerous nations. This can't happen overnight, it takes time. You could be the world's best tiddlywinks player, and moan about the amount of money you get for winning the world championships, but the fact is, no-one wants to sponsor tiddlywinks. Snooker players are in a relatively privileged position, and if they want to make serious money they need to get out there and promote the game. Tennis players play an incredibly tough calendar in a much more physically demanding sport, but that's how the image and prominence of the game was built up. Tennis players get big money because when they play big events you see General Electric, BNP (bank, not the political party!), Heineken, Mercedes, Rolex, Barclays, etc. Not William Hill. And big TV stations want to pay big money for the sport. That's all there is to it. Whinging about it won't change anything.