Nearly man Allen has plenty to celebrate

I know I love snooker, because no matter where I am or what I'm doing, I often think about it.

It's no surprise then, that today, when I was sent to work in Northern Ireland, I got thinking about Mark Allen.

Right now, he's playing what we call 'championship winning snooker'. The only problem is, he's just falling short of the lifting trophies part.

In each of the last two major events, the UK Championship and the Masters, he's advanced to the semi-finals. In Telford, he lost out to eventual winner and one of the generation's greatest players John Higgins in red-hot form. Then at Wembley, he surrendered a 4-1 lead against Marco Fu.

From the outside, this looks as if Allen is fast growing into the nearly man of snooker. And yes, in recent tournaments, he has nearly landed the title.

But in fact, there is plenty for him to be positive about...




Although he's still only 24-year-old, he's as good potter as he was when he wowed crowds when breaking onto the professional tour, he scores heavily and his safety game and focus has massively improved.

The only question you could put to ask about him is: Should he play safe a little more frequently?

In essence, maybe he's being caught out going for that one shot too much.

It's probably a fair point, but after all, it's Allen's fearless approach to the game that has brought him such success in the early years of his career, so he may be reluctant to change style, although a slight tinker could make all the difference.

This is only a tiny matter though. All that's really missing in this fine player's game is trophies.

Luckily, he has got time on his side to put that right.

So rather than being swift to question his credentials after nearly winning two events and ending up winning none,  maybe we should praise the consistency he's shown, which other young players often struggle to find.

And while the only real weakness in his game is his shot selection from time to time, it's hardly panic stations.

He's got years ahead of him to find the right balance in his game. And if he makes too much of a change to his approach, he'll probably find it more detrimental.

So knowing the kind of confident person he is, I know he'll still believe he can win trophies, and don't worry, he will win trophies in snooker.

He won't always be a nearly man in snooker, he's just nearly winning nearly winning the top prizes already. His time will come.