Originally Posted by FrankieFixer:
“He (Selby) is taking the game back the dark ages. You wonder why people don't consider it a sport and he's your answer. No excitement or flair or something to get the crowd going. He might be a nice guy or whatever, but no kid would want to grow up and be him.”
It's interesting hearing Shaun Murphy talking about when he and Selby were coming up through the juniors. Murphy says Selby was by far the worst breakbuilder of their generation of promising youngsters and it was only when he knuckled down to some hard work that it started to gradually improve and get anywhere near the level his peers were able to achieve with their superior natural ability.
It's patently obvious watching Selby now though that he still struggles very badly with the breakbuilding facet of the game, hence his willingness to be on the constant lookout for other means of winning frames.
Is it taking the game back to the snooker dark ages? In my opinion it probably is. I'm not saying everyone should be able to play, or should try to play, like Ronnie, but I do think a World champion should possess at least some degree of breakbuilding fluency.