World Darts Championship star tells 'weak' rivals they need Alan Shearer-like pundits
Darts would benefit from a few more "truth tellers", according to Chris Dobey.
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Chris Dobey has called for more "football-style punditry" in darts. The reigning Masters champion believes his "weak" rivals would benefit from the input of a few more straight-talking experts like his hero Alan Shearer.
Shearer has never been afraid to express how he really feels. Whether it is bashing the officials' decision to award Paris Saint-Germain a controversial last-gasp penalty to effectively seal Newcastle's fate in the Champions League or lambasting Manchester United star Antony for his "selfishness", Shearer speaks his mind when it comes to football - and Dobey wants more of that in darts.
The 33-year-old, a lifelong Newcastle United fan, was left starstruck when the Magpies legend sent him a message congratulating him on his first major title earlier this year.
Speaking to The Star, Dobey said: “To get that message when I won that first title was unbelievable, especially being a massive Newcastle fan.
“At first I couldn’t really grasp it. You think, 'Has that actually happened? Did I really get a text off Alan Shearer?' I had to check my phone the following day just to see if it was real.
“I bumped into Alan at a match a few weeks after that. I got a picture with him and my little boy Cole and he was sound. Cole was looking up to him and Shearer said, 'You won’t know who I am. I’m just the grumpy one on Match of the Day' which was quite funny."
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Dobey then called on dart pundits to take a leaf out of Shearer's book and be more ruthless in their analysis. He added: “Shearer's a decent pundit on the box, and we need more football-style punditry in darts to tell it how it is. We are all friends, but if you have a bad game you want someone to tell you the truth. Just tell you how it is.
“After every game I lose, my mum or dad are on the phone saying, 'You were rubbish'. That's the way you want to hear it. There are a few players who are weak and they can't handle the truth. But it might make them stronger if we do get people saying what they want.”