Matt Porter believes Luke Littler may have to adjust his behaviour if he wants to change how crowds respond to him.
The world No.1 has faced criticism after his run-in with Gian van Veen during Night Nine of the Premier League Darts in Manchester.
“The Nuke” also responded to boos from spectators at Alexandra Palace following his 4-2 win over Rob Cross at the World Championship in December.
Speaking at the time, Littler said: “I’m not bothered. Really not bothered.
“Can I say one thing? You guys pay for tickets and you pay for my prize money. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Come on!”
Porter acknowledged that Littler may need to tone down his natural showmanship on stage, even if it’s a key part of his personality.
He said: “Luke has always enjoyed engaging with the crowd, and I don’t think it bothers him too much up to a certain point.
“But if you wind the crowd up, as he has done before, you have to expect a reaction.
“Often when Luke has done that, he’s been smiling and clearly feeding off it.
“The tricky thing is that darts crowds tend to follow trends. They copy what they’ve seen the week before. So once a certain type of reaction builds, it can continue unless something changes.
“If Luke is that concerned about it—which I’m not sure he really is—then he might look to adapt.
“But if he can brush it off and treat it like water off a duck’s back, he’ll be fine. We’ve seen that before with Gerwyn Price.
“He’s completely changed how crowds perceive him, and others have managed it too.
“In the end, it’s down to Luke—whether he finds it amusing and can handle it, or whether he decides to take a different approach.”
Littler is already a back-to-back world champion and, at just 19, needs only the European Championship to complete the full set of ranked major titles.
Porter believes Littler’s dominance in a fast-growing sport means increased attention—both positive and negative—is inevitable.
He added: “I think that comes with it.
“You see it in every sport—top players become targets. Luke has a spotlight on him not just from his rivals, but from fans as well.
“That’s not unique to darts in any way.
“These things come in cycles. It might be one issue now, and something else will replace it down the line.”
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