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LUKE LITTLER has revealed how new Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim helped him to prepare for his Grand Slam of Darts debut.
The 17-year-old made the best possible start to the competition by making it out of his group, the first step in what he hopes will land him £150,000 from winning the Wolverhampton tournament.
Rex
Manchester UnitedAfter that strong start, Littler has now revealed how he switched sports to tune in on Amorim‘s flight progress as he flew to Manchester from Lisbon ahead of his match against Lourence Ilagan.
Littler, who is a Red Devils fan, told Sky Sports: “I was, on the little flight radar. It was the No. 1 tracked flight with like 6,400 people!
“[I was] focusing on both [Amorim’s flight and darts match]… mostly this [facing Ilagan].”
The 39-year-old had been confirmed as the permanent successor to sacked manager Erik ten Hag two weeks ago.
However, he did not start his new job until Monday after seeing out a final few games with Sporting Lisbon before the international break, with Ruud van Nistelrooy taking charge of the team in the interim.
Amorim has already endeared himself to many Red Devils fans after snubbing a move to Liverpool in the summer, with the Portuguese boss among the most heavily-linked names before Arne Slot arrived.
Littler is one of those fans and was quick to point that out when asked whether he thought Amorim would be a success at Old Trafford.
The Nuke added: “I don’t know whether he is going to do a job, but we’ve got him in for some reason.
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“Obviously he didn’t want to go to Liverpool last season, or West Ham either, so he chose us.”
Littler is facing Mike De Decker in the final 16 of the Grand Slam on Thursday.
Amorim’s first game in charge at Man Utd is not until November 24 against Ipswich.
Therefore, Littler will have plenty of time to relax and not worry about his beloved team if he makes it to this Sunday’s final.
Littler has previously taken swipes at Liverpool and was seen lapping up the boos when competing in the city by cupping his hands to his ears in April.
You can keep up with all the Grand Slam of Darts action with SunSport’s live blog here.
List of all-time Darts World Champions
BELOW is a list of Darts world champions by year.
The list does not include winners from the pre-Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) era or BDO world champions.
That means Raymond van Barneveld, for example, is only listed once – Barney also won four BDO titles – and none of Eric Bristow’s five BDO titles are included.
- 1994 – Dennis Priestley
- 1995 – Phil Taylor
- 1996 – Phil Taylor (2)
- 1997 – Phil Taylor (3)
- 1998 – Phil Taylor (4)
- 1999 – Phil Taylor (5)
- 2000 – Phil Taylor (6)
- 2001 – Phil Taylor (7)
- 2002 – Phil Taylor (8)
- 2003 – John Part
- 2004 – Phil Taylor (9)
- 2005 – Phil Taylor (10)
- 2006 – Phil Taylor (11)
- 2007 – Raymond van Barneveld
- 2008 – John Part (2)
- 2009 – Phil Taylor (12)
- 2010 – Phil Taylor (13)
- 2011 – Adrian Lewis
- 2012 – Adrian Lewis (2)
- 2013 – Phil Taylor (14)
- 2014 – Michael van Gerwen
- 2015 – Gary Anderson
- 2016 – Gary Anderson (2)
- 2017 – Michael van Gerwen (2)
- 2018 – Rob Cross
- 2019 – Michael van Gerwen (3)
- 2020 – Peter Wright
- 2021 – Gerwyn Price
- 2022 – Peter Wright (2)
- 2023 – Michael Smith
- 2024 – Luke Humphries
Most World Titles
- 14 – Phil Taylor
- 3 – Michael van Gerwen
- 2 – John Part, Adrian Lewis, Gary Anderson, Peter Wright
- 1 – Dennis Priestley, Raymond van Barneveld, Rob Cross, Gerwyn Price, Michael Smith, Luke Humphries
Ruben Amorim is ‘Mourinho 2.0’ who turned Sporting from ‘walking dead’ into Portuguese champs… he can revive Man Utd
WHEN Ruben Amorim took charge of Sporting Lisbon in March 2020, one club official compared their situation to the “walking dead”, writes Jordan Davies.
Optimism and hope was at an all-time low.
But the Amorim-effect was almost instantaneous, guiding the Portuguese sleeping giants to their first league title for 19 years in 2020/21, losing just once and only conceding 20 goals.
Since then, Sporting have lifted another league title in 2023/24 – as well as two League Cups – and currently sit top with nine wins from nine this term.
He may be young, but Amorim already has an eye for rebuilding and revitalising fallen super powers with his infectious charisma and intense tactical philosophy that hardly ever wavers.
The “walking dead” at Manchester United must be praying for a similar sort of revival.
And they may just get it from one of the most talented young coaches on the continent – a man accustomed to breathing new life back into crumbling institutions such as Old Trafford.
Amorim has spent the last decade dreaming of one day gracing England’s Premier League, such was his admiration for an ex-United boss in Jose Mourinho growing up.
Often nicknamed ‘Mourinho 2.0’, Amorim spent a week with his coaching idol in an internship capacity at United’s Carrington training base in 2018, going on to cite him as his “reference point”.
United should not be expecting a mini-Mourinho, as Amorim said himself: “Mourinho is one of a kind. There won’t be another Mourinho. Mourinho is unique.”
And yet, you cannot help but compare the two.
For all the mismanagement in the Old Trafford hot seats over the years, this would be a real get – finally a slap in the face United’s Prem rivals have no answer for.
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