1.5.09

MURPHY'S LAW

Shaun Murphy hardly endeared himself to the neutrals by refusing to allow Neil Robertson leave to get his extension from his dressing room during frame five tonight.

It was hard to hear in commentary, but I'm told by someone who was in the arena that when the referee, Eirian Williams, asked Murphy if he minded if Robertson went to retrieve the equipment, the 2005 world champion replied with a fair amount of sarcasm: "Why don't we go out for a cup of tea as well?" [note: this is second hand, I didn't hear him say it myself]

That said, it was Neil's own fault for not bringing it back into the arena after the interval.

33 comments:

Anonymous said...

stephen maguire will now have company in the form of neil robertson then

Anonymous said...

Mr smug strike's again

Anonymous said...

So much for Christian charity. What a complete hypocrite. He promotes himself as some worthy role model, but lots of small incidents over the years start to make it clear why Murphy was bullied at school.

'He shouldn't be doing that miss.' 'If you allow him to do that sir, I'm telling the headmaster.'Is it any wonder there were boos for him when he entered the arena earlier in the tournament?

A very odious individual. A very good snooker player.

Come On Jimmy! said...

Murphy is doing a good job of turning himself into a pantomime villian. Snooker could do with a nemisis pantomime villian right now.

Neil has been doing a fine impression of Jimmy White / Alex Higgins, falling short positionally on a regular basis and having to tonk it right round the table to make up for it. My kind of player.

Anonymous said...

i really want to like murphy but it gets harder when he does something like this. It will put a bit of niggle in the match now. . . Hopefully.

Greg said...

Rob Walker introduces him as "A class act, on and off the baize!"

Then he throws a hissy fit and comes across like one of those jobsworth parking attendants penalising you for arriving back at your car 5 seconds late. Hilarious...


And people wonder why snooker is in the state it is in.

Anonymous said...

Dave what is the rule for this? Surely the referee should decide, or couldn't an official have gone instead?

hegeland from TSF said...

I think it's wrong of you to spread rumours based on hearsay, Dave.

Anyway, as Neil Robertson actually said at the Masters that he thinks the players on the tour are too friendly and that he'd like to see more rivalry, he should have been happy with this. ;)

kimball said...

Hearsay or not, Robertson,s own
fault and no reason to pause the
frame for his mistake.

The ref should have said no from
the start.

Anonymous said...

really trying not to hate him
and failing

Anonymous said...

Murphy comes from a golfing background where there are rules set down for instances like this and penalties automatically follow.
However, snooker has no such rules/laws and someone should remind Murphy of this, especially as the whole precedure of retrieving the extension would have taken 30 seconds.
The dressing rooms are 20 yards away from the table.
Murphy has yet again found a way of geeing up his opponant and allowing sections of the crown to root for the other guy.
Pity really as he was doing so much better on the public relations front than ever before.

Anonymous said...

Greg - explain your last sentence

Anonymous said...

I m with Murphy on this. It is his right anyway and Robertson's fault. For sure though, it wasnt smart play from him. more reasons for the crowd to detest him

Ruthie said...

What really annoyed me about this was that Murphy had pretty much won the frame already. Robertson had made an honest mistake: there was no possible advantage to him in forgetting the extension. Shaun is a marvellous player and could very well win the title, but I can't help hoping he doesn't simply because of behaviour like this.

Anonymous said...

Yeah Greg.

No personalities in the game, a 75 minute frame, no WAGS and now this.

The sport is in disarray.

Betty Logan said...

Wasn't it Robertson who was complaining earlier this season that the players were too 'friendly'? Be careful what you wish for Neil...

Anyway, after chalk-gate I thought it had been established that you only had to break off and then you could go back out and get your chalk or extension or whatever.

Anonymous said...

i personally cannot stand murphy in my opinion he is very smug and arrogant the way he comes across no wonder he hasnt many friends on the snooker circuit i remember maguire saying he hated his guts

Claus Christensen said...

The danish commentator said that 'chalkgate' was many years in the past and that back then Murphy would use all available means to get somewhere in the world of snooker but added that he is a changed man.

Apparently not.

Maybe he would even consider repeating the chalk routine if given the chance?

Anonymous said...

@ Anon 7:52 AM

That's exactly what happened: an official picked the extension up from Robertson's dressing room and handed it over right in time before Neil took the shot.

Keith said...

I've never understood the obsession with players having their own extensions anyway. Make 'em use what's provided with the table. Same for both players!

stuartfanning said...

There's a pattern here. Murphy lack of sportsmanship.

Originally built up as the fairytale prince when he's actually not a very nice person.

The Devil's Haircut said...

Stop picking on me.

legoland from TFS said...

i agree keith. make them use pub cues too

Anonymous said...

legoland do you mean TSF?????

legoland from TFS said...

No i did not

Demon Potter said...

Another thing that annoys me about Murphy is the way he stays down on shots after he's missed a pot or played a bad shot – that really winds me up.

Murphy is beginning to make himself look a complete arse at the moment, he's getting too big for his boots.

The Devil's Haircut said...

This is me Mr Murphy can you all stop bullying me please, i'm whiter than white and never done anything wrong any more and i'm telling Dave.

Anonymous said...

Lego any relation to hedge?

King Kong said...

@ Demon Potter: being a healthy lad, Murphy cannot get up quickly from any shot. So whilst it's annoying, it's not his fault.

Also he's not too big for his boots. I'm sure they fit him fine. Anyone else's boots might be a problem though.

Anonymous said...

What's TFS/TSF?

Matt said...

The Snooker Forum.

Anonymous said...

TSF is cliquey

stuartfanning said...

More on Murphy's fling in the Sunday People today.

http://www.people.co.uk/news/tm_headline=snooker-hero-murphy-and-pound-100-escort&method=full&objectid=21328337&siteid=93463-name_page.html