LITTLER BLASTED FOR ALLY PALLY OUTBURST

LUKE LITTLER has been slammed for his Ally Pally blow-up and told that his growing ego could damage his reputation.

Psychologist Darren Stanton singled out the teen sensation for scrutiny after he was heavily booed during his World Championship win over Rob Cross.

‘The Nuke’ shrugged off the crowd’s jeers, stating he wasn’t “bothered” and reminded them that their ticket purchases directly contribute to his prize money.

UK body language analyst Stanton noted that Littler’s behavior could alienate fans and that an incident like this will be hard for him to overcome.

He told OLBG: “Wow, what a transformation from Luke Littler. He’s gone from being a complete hero, to being the pantomime villain.

“You don’t really need to be an expert to see what’s happening, and basically, it’s gone to his head.

“Ego’s kicked in and to basically go against the people that have put you there is a bad mistake.

“To say to the audience, you’ve paid tickets and you’ve paid for my prize money, by effectively saying you’re all mugs.

“That is a very, very silly thing to do. So from a non-verbal point of view, we see chin thrusts.

“He is bothered by the crowd booing him because his face went really bright red. That denotes a shifting emotion.

“He went on the defensive when he should have been dictating and trying to resolve the situation.

“I think he’s not doing himself any favours here by taking that stance and that attitude. with the audience because they’re the ones that are put in there.

“He should have been more passive. It’s sometimes very difficult to recover from the simplest of interactions.”

Stanton compared Luke Littler to football star Jude Bellingham, believing that Littler’s gestures are more self-focused.

He added: “If I was to compare Luke Littler to Jude Bellingham, the main differences are the gestures and expressions are more for Littler himself.

“Littler doesn’t play to the crowd as such, and I think that’s where his kind of notoriety and following has come from, because up to now, he’s always been quite a crowd pleaser.

“People are kind of with him, if that makes sense, so he’s created this big following.

“The difference with Bellingham is he’s a lot more kind of outgoing and a bit more showy, and sometimes can be thought of as being cocky and arrogant.

“The main two differences is that is that one’s more inwardly referenced, which is Littler, and then Bellingham is more outwardly referenced, which means he plays to the crowd, he’s a sort of character.

“From looking at the body language and from an emotive point of view, Belligham has got a lot more inner-confidence than Littler.”

Littler is bracing for a hositle reception when he returns to the stage on January 1 and takes on Krzysztof Ratajski in the quarter-final.

Stanton continued: “Littler was the underdog. He came out of nowhere, it’s like Lewis Hamilton when he first started and became successful.

“People rooted for him because he was the underdog, and then when he gets consistently good, the crowd dynamic and the mood shifts and basically as he becomes more successful.

“The more confident he becomes, that then gets perceived as arrogance, because he didn’t appease the audience.

“I think his popularity, brand or reputation could have been damaged, because he’s no longer seen as that protege, that underdog, people used to identify with him as being just like them because he’s so young as well.

“Fans will probably let a little bit of cockiness and arrogance go by if the person’s been around for a very long time or if they’re a bit older.

“But when somebody’s so young and has come up the ranks so fast, then begins to demonstrate arrogance and cockiness, the crowd can become quite hostile.

“Now for Littler to respond like that was a very bad mistake. I think it’s going to be interesting to see his next appearance.

“I think the best damage limitation for him is to just tone it down. He should apologise and just say ‘I was having a bad day’ or something similar.

“But, if he continues in that behaviour and that particular frame of mind, his popularity is going to diminish, even if he continues to win. It’s a really silly thing to alienate the people that have really supported you throughout your career.

“People like back in the day could get away with a blip like that, but I think because he’s relatively new on the circuit, he just hasn’t earned the right to be that rude to the audience and get away with it. That’s how I think the crowd are feeling towards Littler.”

Image by Taylor Lanning.