In all the time I have been watching Phil Taylor, I have never ever seen him as angry as he was last Thursday.

During his match with Mervyn King, Phil dropped his darts and while he was still bending over, Merv threw his darts over the top of him.

That goes totally against darts protocol; you should always wait until the oche is clear. I'm not sure how much Merv intended it, if you're in a rhythm then you want to throw again as quickly as you can and that's what he did.

Taylor: unhappy with King's actions

The fact that Merv didn't do the gentlemanly thing and pause has really upset Taylor - but that wasn't the only grounds for his reaction afterwards.

I think he was annoyed because he wasn't able to psych out Merv. Taylor likes to win the psychological battle against the opposition, but he wasn't able to do that with Merv who plays the board rather than the player.

As a result they were hardly able to look at each other in the post-match interview. King may have said there was no needle between them, but there clearly was. I expect a few fireworks the next time they meet.

It was good to see plenty of sporting stars in the crowd. The England rugby team were there and I can reassure Martin Johnson that the boys were all drinking bottled water.

Habib Beye was there with some of Newcastle United's backroom staff and the Carlisle striker Michael Bridges was also lapping it up. Overall, it was one of the best crowds we've ever had because the people of Newcastle love their sport.

I also gave a rare public performance of my singing. I belted out the Geordie anthem 'Blaydon Races' and said "eat your heart out Gordon Sumner of Gosforth" (a.k.a. Sting).

This week, John Gwynne will be in his element in his hometown. There will be a lot of his fans in the room and some great matches to look forward to...

RAYMOND VAN BARNEVELD v MERVYN KING
Barney drew 7-7 with Wayne Mardle in Newcastle, but he only averaged 91. I put that down to the rhythm at which the game was played.

Wayne does not have a steady rhythm at the board, if he throws a shot he doesn't like he'll wait before throwing his next one. That erratic throwing pattern definitely affected Barney.

Against King, who plays with much more regularity, Barney will perform better but I'm not sure he can get back up to the 107 average he had in Belfast - and he might need that to beat King.

Despite the spat, King produced finishes of 130, 121 and 112 against Taylor and if you can do that against the best player in the world you can do it against anybody.

This could be a classic, but because of those amazing shot-outs I think King will win 8-6.

JELLE KLAASEN v JOHN PART
Jelle Klaasen played much better last week. He averaged 94 and in the first half of his match and he didn't fall off balance as he usually does.

However, that problem returned in the second part of the game, but even so he averaged higher than John Part.

Part looked composed last week and seemed to be enjoying himself, particularly at the start. He benefitted from the fact Terry Jenkins is the easiest guy to play against - he'll never disrupt your rhythm.

Normally I would say we'd be looking at a draw here, but I think Klaasen's desperation to win might get the better of him.

He might try a bit too hard to earn his first victory of the tournament and that could bring back his balance problems, so I can see Part winning a close match 8-6.

TERRY JENKINS v JAMES WADE
This is a hard one to sort out because they both have such a similar style.

Neither player particularly uses lies, they just throw in the area of the last dart and they both throw in a steady 5-6 seconds per visit.

Wade only averaged 91 in Newcastle, but I feel he could be back to his best and reproduce the form we saw in Belfast.

However, Jenkins is the master of the 130 shot-outs and I think that will enable him to stay in touch with the world number two. Jenks was furious after the defeat to Part, but he will use that frustration positively and bounce back.

I think this has got draw written all over it.

PHIL TAYLOR v WAYNE MARDLE
I've just received a letter from my sports science pal, Paul Gillings, of the University of Cardiff, whose thesis is looking at the psychology of sportsmen.

He has highlighted problems in Wayne Mardle's "psychological arousal" and his "optimum emotional level". To put it more simply, he's too hyped up at the start of matches.

In six of his last seven matches, Wayne has failed to win the first leg. Paul Gillings reckons that has something to do with the fact he dances down the aisle and jumps around the stage flinging plastic palm trees everywhere before the game.

If he walks on second, he only has two-and-a-half minutes before he has to throw his first dart. It seems he is not physically fit enough to recover from bouncing around the stage - but also his emotions are such that he's bound to lose the first leg. It's a combination of his physical and emotional state.

If his "optimum emotional level" isn't right against the other guys, what on earth is it going to be like at 9.30pm on Thursday when he's preparing to face the best darts player in history?

It'll be even worse when you consider Taylor will be like a bear with a sore head after last week. He'll probably have spent 60 hours on the practice board since then.

Wayne needs to sit in a cold bath for 24 hours before the match to keep himself calm. I expect Taylor to win the first four legs - and he'll go on to win 8-2.

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