Neil Robertson will tomorrow be a guest on BT Sport’s Sports Panel programme, which airs live from 9.30-11.30am.
The show is a discussion of various sports, presented by Tim Lovejoy assisted by former England rugby union international and Question of Sport captain Matt Dawson.
Robertson will of course be talking about the Dafabet Masters but is a general sports fan and will doubtless have plenty to say about his beloved Chelsea as well, of course, as Australia’s recent capture of the Ashes.
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Speaking of football, ardent Liverpool fan Ricky Walden is a little happier with how things are going this season, with his side currently fourth in the Premier League, six points off top.
He said: “I don’t think we can win the league but we’re much more competitive now. We can definitely have a crack at the Champions League and hopefully make a few more signings this month and keep kit ticking over. Brendan Rogers is doing a great job and putting us back on the map.”
But does Walden have any sympathy for the previously all-conquering Manchester United, currently languishing in seventh and already out of the FA Cup?
“No, definitely not! It’s been a long time coming, seeing them struggling so I’m getting a kick out of it. But I think they’ll be back. They’ll make a few signings and they’ll be back. It’s a competitive league this year. Man City are the team to beat."
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Inside Snooker couldn’t resist a smirk after reading the story about Scottish football manager Kenny Shiels, in charge of Championship side Greenock Morton. Shiels somehow managed to get a doctor’s note giving him permission to skip post-match press conferences for the good of his health, as according to the Northern Irishman he could never successfully plot a path through the minefield of questions laid down by the Scottish football journalists and always ended up getting in trouble.
“You get emotionally unbalanced at that time and feel an urge to tell the truth,” said the 57-year-old Shiels. “You drop your guard. I am probably not intelligent enough to deal with that because these journalists can catch me. I am very susceptible to being controversialised.”
Answers on a postcard as to which snooker players should consider heading straight off to their local GP for some paperwork.