When Stephen Bunting takes the stage in front of his home Liverpool crowd on Thursday night, all he can expect is love. What else? Perhaps not so much.
Serial world champion Luke Littler has been booed in recent weeks following his falling out with Jan van Veen in Manchester.
And the hostility on Merseyside may have already been on the agenda for Manchester United fans, who have not hesitated to point out Liverpool’s struggles this season on social media, regardless of the incident with the Dutchman.
But Bunting acknowledges there is little that can be done to control the crowd’s reaction.
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Luke Littler and Stephen Bunting’s quarter-final highlights from Premier League night 10 in Brighton
“Honestly, it’s not for me to say,” Bunting said to boos from the audience. “I’m in a position where the audience seems to be reacting positively to me. I’m trying to do everything right with Osh as much as I can.
“After the World Championships, I got reprimanded a little bit for saying and using words that I probably shouldn’t have used. I think that was a bit harsh. To be honest, the fans react how they want to react. There’s nothing we can do about it.
“A lot of people sit behind the keyboard and write a lot of things, but to be honest, that’s out of our control. And if the people in the room are going to be there and boo, that’s completely up to them.
“But as long as I stay clean and continue to do my own thing and stay out of other people’s business and try to stay out of trouble, hopefully I don’t give anyone a reason to boo.”
“I might cry a little if I win.”
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Luke Littler and Jan van Veen get excited during their final quarter-final match in Manchester
Bunting is one of the players who takes advantage of the crowd atmosphere and is hoping for a special moment when he faces Premier League leaders Johnny Clayton in the quarter-finals.
“You always get emotional in front of your home fans, I think so too,” he said. “Take a few more seconds of deep breathing as you walk.
“I hope I don’t get too emotional, I’m really looking forward to it.
“I’ve done a bit of an emotional thing today. I’ve also been to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital. I’m absolutely sure I’ll be OK. If I win, I’ll probably cry a little bit. But let’s get it done first.”
Bunting himself was on his way home, from the warm welcome of Gerwyn Price in Wales to the reception of Michael van Gerwen in Holland.
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Michael van Gerwen thinks Luke Littler’s altercation with Jan van Veen after the Premier League game has been exaggerated
“It can be very difficult,” he said. “Last year I played against Michael van Gerwen in Rotterdam and I was able to overcome that scenario and get the win.
“I played against Gaethje (Price) a few weeks ago and obviously the whole Welsh crowd was rooting for him, so that’s to be expected. Everywhere you go you have fans in your pocket.
“And obviously Liverpool, it’s going to be great for me. I’m really looking forward to it. To be honest, I hope it affects the opponent because it might give me an easy night, but I don’t expect that to happen. I think the crowd will be very respectful, no matter who is playing.”
“Hopefully everyone plays their best darts and it’s a great Premier League night. And the people of Liverpool can go home and talk about that night for a long time.”
Elsewhere in Liverpool, Littler, who is second behind Creighton, begins the match against former world champion Luke Humphries, while Van Veen takes on Price and Van Gerwen takes on Josh Lock.
Bunting currently sits in seventh place, five points behind fourth-placed Van Gerwen, who currently occupies the final play-off place.
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On the Love The Darts podcast, Steve Beaton jumps to the defense of world champion Luke Littler, who hit the headlines over his incident with Jan van Veen in the Premier League.
Slott’s Liverpool are ‘boring to watch’
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Jamie Carragher admits Arne Slott will remain at Liverpool next season ‘from the noise I’ve heard’
In some ways, the Premier League’s struggles mirror Arne Slott’s beloved Liverpool, who are fighting for Champions League qualification amid criticism of the reigning champions.
“This season has been up and down, to say the least,” Bunting said. “All these signals are coming in, but they don’t seem to be coming together very well.
“I know there were a lot of injuries. I was a big fan of Arne Slott last year and of course we won the league and things like that, but things have changed. This year my opinion has changed a little bit.”
“It’s boring to watch. I’m good friends with quite a few of the boxers and Paddy the Buddy and we always talk about football and stuff. We’re in the same group. I don’t think he’s happy, but if he stays I’ll give him my full support. We’ll see what happens.”
Darts Supremo tells stars to cut out noise
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Referee Hugh Weir was not happy with the crowd during the European Darts Trophy second round match between Bunting and Nico Springer.
Director of Darts Barry Hearn said players had to “get used to” booing as security staff could not turn away tens of thousands of fans.
There were also several high-profile incidents of fans whistling. Littler was booed after reaching the final in Rotterdam and is likely to receive another hostile reaction at Liverpool on Thursday.
Referee Hugh Weir has had to be substituted twice in recent weeks at the Euro Tour in Germany after matches were interrupted by persistent whistles.
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Darts referee Mr Weir has given his thoughts on the spectator whistle during the European Darts Grand Prix. Video credit: @OfficialPDC
But Hearn admitted his players have no choice but to adapt, telling SunSport:
“In the meantime, the players are professionals. They have to get used to it. They will. But I don’t like it.
“The moment you tell someone in authority not to do something, it’s like putting a red cloth on a bull, and they’ll do the same thing ten times over.
“That’s life. You can’t throw 12,000 people out of the Ahoy Stadium in Rotterdam because it would take too long to get them back in.
“You just have to rely on a little bit of common sense, and sometimes that just doesn’t happen.
“It’s frustrating. The only answer I can find is to look at myself in the mirror and ask myself if I’ve completely numbed myself.”
Mardle: Littler is no longer a child.
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Wayne Mardle takes a closer look at the causes of Littler’s fiery ending to his quarter-final match against Jan van Veen in Manchester
Wayne Mardle offered Littler some advice after his battles with the crowd in recent weeks, saying, “It’s got to stop.”
“I believe that we have to do this no matter what is going on right now. I believe that the team around him is responsible, he is also responsible,” said ‘Hawaii 501’.
“I’m always reluctant to say how old he is. He’s 19 now, almost 19. Well, he’s a young man, let’s get it right. He’s not a kid anymore.”
“The situation is happening and he doesn’t know how to deal with it. He needs to listen to his friends, family and management and they need to do it right.”
“If I heard something like that, they’d turn around and say, ‘Don’t worry about them,’ like, don’t get involved in it. That’s not the way forward.”
Mardle continued: “Nobody likes to be hated. Peter Manley tried it a long time ago and it didn’t work. Paul Nicholson tried it a long time ago and it didn’t work. Gerwyn Price tried it and didn’t like it. They’ve all become patrons in that respect. They’ve all changed their tune.”
“Luke Littler has never tried to antagonize the crowd, but unfortunately he has done it once or twice. He wants that to stop, because we don’t want to see negative emotions affect our players.
“We don’t want to see someone looking depressed like Gerwyn Price probably did a few years ago. It wasn’t a pleasure to see that, but we’re glad he got out of that situation.
“Questions of the crowd generally don’t work.”
Who will win this year’s Premier League Darts? Luke Humphries will defend his title and the fight can be seen on Sky Sports every Thursday until May. Stream darts and other top sports now.
