Luke Littler has faced fierce criticism for his Ally Pally outburst, with experts claiming his ego has turned him against the very fans who propelled him to stardom. In a damning verdict, prominent UK body language analyst and psychology expert Darren Stanton has placed the teenager squarely in the crosshairs. Littler endured boos and jeers during his World Championship victory over Rob Cross.

He responded defiantly in his post-match interview when he said: “You guys pay for tickets and you pay for my prize money so thank you for my money, thank you for booing me!” Stanton, dubbed ‘the human lie detector’, believes Littler has transformed into a pantomime villain and warns that even such a brief exchange could prove difficult to overcome. Speaking to OLBG, he declared: “Wow, what a transformation from Luke Littler. He’s gone from being a complete hero, to being the pantomime villain. You don’t really need to be an expert to see what’s happening, and basically, it’s gone to his head.

“Ego’s kicked in and to basically go against the people that have put you there is a bad mistake. To say to the audience, you’ve paid tickets and you’ve paid for my prize money, by effectively saying you’re all mugs.

“That is a very, very silly thing to do. So from a non-verbal point of view, we see chin thrusts. He is bothered by the crowd booing him because his face went really bright red. That denotes a shifting emotion. He became defensive when he should have been taking control and attempting to resolve the situation.

“I think he’s not doing himself any favours by adopting that stance and attitude with the audience because they’re the ones who are placed there. He should have been more passive. It’s sometimes very difficult to recover from the simplest of interactions.”

Stanton drew a comparison with a football hero as he continued: “If I was to compare Luke Littler to Jude Bellingham, the main differences are the gestures and expressions are more for Littler himself.

“Littler doesn’t play to the crowd as such, and I think that’s where his kind of notoriety and following has come from, because up to now, he’s always been quite a crowd pleaser. People are kind of with him, if that makes sense, so he’s created this big following.

“The difference with Bellingham is he’s a lot more kind of outgoing and a bit more showy, and sometimes can be thought of as being cocky and arrogant. The main two differences is that is that one’s more inwardly referenced, which is Littler, and then Bellingham is more outwardly referenced, which means he plays to the crowd, he’s a sort of character.

“From looking at the body language and from an emotive point of view, Belligham has got a lot more inner-confidence than Littler.”

Littler is braced for a hostile reception on New Year’s night when he steps back onto the stage, with Stanton observing: “Littler was the underdog. He came out of nowhere, it’s like Lewis Hamilton when he first started and became successful.

“People rooted for him because he was the underdog, and then when he gets consistently good, the crowd dynamic and the mood shifts and basically as he becomes more successful.

“The more confident he becomes, that then gets perceived as arrogance, because he didn’t appease the audience. I think his popularity, brand or reputation could have been damaged, because he’s no longer seen as that protege, that underdog, people used to identify with him as being just like them because he’s so young as well.

“Fans will probably let a little bit of cockiness and arrogance go by if the person’s been around for a very long time or if they’re a bit older. But when somebody’s so young and has come up the ranks so fast, then begins to demonstrate arrogance and cockiness, the crowd can become quite hostile.

“Now for Littler to respond like that was a very bad mistake. I think it’s going to be interesting to see his next appearance. I think the best damage limitation for him is to just tone it down. He should apologise and just say ‘I was having a bad day’ or something similar.

“But, if he continues in that behaviour and that particular frame of mind, his popularity is going to diminish, even if he continues to win. It’s a really silly thing to alienate the people that have really supported you throughout your career.

“I think the overall message that the crowd are sending by booing is ‘you’re not that good to be this cocky so early’. It’s that kind of level of behaviour.

“People like back in the day could get away with a blip like that, but I think because he’s relatively new on the circuit, he just hasn’t earned the right to be that rude to the audience and get away with it. That’s how I think the crowd are feeling towards Littler.”

Darren Stanton was speaking to OLBG