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RIP Gary Speed

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I''m stunned.

I saw him on Football Focus Saturday morning. He seemed fine and in good spirits.

I find it hard to believe. A good manager who seemed to be doing very well with the Welsh team and by all accounts a great man.

Gary Speed RIP

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Must admit I''ve been totally shocked by this especially as (like others have said) we saw Speed on FF yesterday and he seemed as bright as a button. Less than 24 hours later he''s gone.

Now I haven''t a great deal of time for Savage and Shearer but both have risen substantially in my judgement by the events of the last few hours.

On BBC News there is a truly emotional interview with Savage which had to be ended prematurely as the boy was so upset. He gave a heart rending tribute and fair play to him for coming on the TV as best he could. Probably the most poignant comment though was from Shearer:

"he lit up every room he walked into.

I am proud to have been his friend and will miss him dreadfully."

Can''t top that tribute - well said Shearer.

 

   

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[quote user="Mister Chops"]Howard Wilkinson said something so obvious, and yet something we all forget sometimes - these people aren''t born as footballers, it''s a career they are lucky enough to be able to pursue but they are vulnerable people like the rest of us.

Audio link to the interview here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/15908380.stm

[/quote]

 

That''s so true Mr C. The trouble is that when you or I , or any member of the general public have a depression issue, only our close friends etc ever see us , in whatever state we are in. Those in the media spotlight don''t have it like that, though, of course, some will say "it''s their choice". But the truth is , despite the best efforts of the tabloids etc,we never really know the facts. Had he been diagnosed with cancer ? Had his missus left him ?   Had he been depressed about having to give up being a player ? Stuff like that. Maybe we''ll never know. Maybe we shouldn''t know ?

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For a relatively young man to take his own life when it would seem to the outside world he had so much to live for, he must have been in a very dark place.What drives somebody to take their own life is hard for most to understand. What I do know is it makes my own worries seem very silly and small.God bless his family my thoughts are with his children as I hug my little boy.

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There''s not much left to say that hasn''t already been said. It''s tragic events like these that make you realise what''s important in life like your wife, children and friends - And how trivial your own problems usually are.

What a sad loss to his family and the football world. RIP. My thoughts are with his wife and kids.

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Absolutely shocked by this news when I heard it this morning. Still shocked by it now. Awful, awful, shocking news.

R.I.P. Gary Speed.

Respect and condolences go to your friends and family at this hard time.

Massive respect for Robbie Savage for appearing on the news earlier whilst still in shock, great tribute.

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The most stunningly unexpected tragic news to come out of british football in many a year.Thoughts to the Speed family at this sad time.

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I''m still pretty shocked and upset by this, and I didn''t even know him personally. Must be really hard for his family and friends, can''t imagine how they feel right now.

Savage deserves a huge amount of respect today, he''s obviously devastated by the news but still went on the news to do an interview, and presented his radio show. Must have been hard for the players who played under Speed for Wales or played with him (Given?) to go out and play, and you can''t blame Bellamy for not being involved today, Kenny Dalgleish did the right thing leaving him out (not sure if Bellamy requested it, or if Dalgleish just left him out.)

All of the tributes and messages from everyone ex or current footballer or just fan have been sad to read but very respectful and shows what a great guy Speed was.

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RIP Gary. really shocked me, as i have only had one experience of death of someone close to me sort of so god knows how i''ll take it when it comes to my family. thoughts are with his family and friends. big respect for ex teammates and wales internationals playing today and Robbie Savage.

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Speedo was quite a figure around here; a local boy from Mancot about 4 miles from me, him and Sav were the sort of local hero''s in this area.The local area will feel it bad, he was such a golden man, captain and then manager of his country - Wales were even starting to play well too!The deepest sympathy go to those he was survived by, the torture will be hard and long.Condolences also to team mates past and present; of course Sav, Bellers and the more high profile ones, but even our own Crofty and Mozza will be hurt.

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I would like to add another guy has lost his life today. Another soldier has been killed in Afghanistan. It''s so sad and tragic that Gary speed has gone and I still can''t.get my.head around it but equally as an ex squaddie myself a young soldier gas lost his life. The famous footballer is headline news , the young soldier is small news probably a few lines in tomorrow paper might mention his name, both deserve equal respect. RIP both of you fellas x.

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Sickening thing is that Gary Speed got applause by 20,000 people and a load of celebrities coming out to say how great he was. He chose to die.

The soldier was protecting more than 20,000 people; much more. He will have no-one famous saying how great he was. He chose to protect, and died.

I find it absolutely appalling how Gary Speed''s death is being reported. "He was found hanged; no one will know what happened". This is utter crap. "He committed suicide. No-one has any idea why." The media is painting this just like they would a heart attack or a fatal accident. No-one is reporting on it and asking hard questions. I find it troubling.

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[quote user="CantonsHero"]Sickening thing is that Gary Speed got applause by 20,000 people and a load of celebrities coming out to say how great he was. He chose to die.

The soldier was protecting more than 20,000 people; much more. He will have no-one famous saying how great he was. He chose to protect, and died.

I find it absolutely appalling how Gary Speed''s death is being reported. "He was found hanged; no one will know what happened". This is utter crap. "He committed suicide. No-one has any idea why." The media is painting this just like they would a heart attack or a fatal accident. No-one is reporting on it and asking hard questions. I find it troubling.[/quote]I get what you mean.  The same crossed my mind.  Talksport was on in the kitchen this afternoon, and the wife said they''re talking as though he had an accident or heart attack. On the other hand, as this is so unusual I suppose the media just don''t know how to play it.  Opinions on suicide can evoke both ends of  a debate.

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[quote user="CantonsHero"]Sickening thing is that Gary Speed got applause by 20,000 people and a load of celebrities coming out to say how great he was. He chose to die.

The soldier was protecting more than 20,000 people; much more. He will have no-one famous saying how great he was. He chose to protect, and died.

I find it absolutely appalling how Gary Speed''s death is being reported. "He was found hanged; no one will know what happened". This is utter crap. "He committed suicide. No-one has any idea why." The media is painting this just like they would a heart attack or a fatal accident. No-one is reporting on it and asking hard questions. I find it troubling.[/quote]I saw your post earlier Canton, so I guess this is close to home for you.I tend to disagree with you, although that''s just my point of view.  The guy quite possibly had some terrible issues going on in his head, and no one will know exactly what he was thinking at the time.  I don''t want to get in a debate, because you clearly have a strong view on this, but I think it''s rather sad that you want to ask hard questions at a time when his family are going to be utterly distraught.

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[quote user="CantonsHero"] The media is painting this just like they would a heart attack or a fatal accident. No-one is reporting on it and asking hard questions. I find it troubling.[/quote]Maybe they should get in the faces of his grieving family and ask those hard questions? In all honesty I''m surprised it has taken this long for the first pr*ck to try and ruin this thread. Predictably it has been done by bringing our armed forces into it. I''d rather neither Gary Speed or the soldier had died but I can see that both of their deaths are tragic.

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Sorry for that shackattack . Never wanted a debate. Just want to say that both deserve respect. I''m sad and shocked by Gary speeds death but equally saddened by the loss of a soldier. Calling me a prick and ruining.the thread is out of order. I have.full respect for both. I have a mate.that''s brother.played professional football with speed. I don''t know the.soldier In question. I''m sure you.will enjoy reading 20 pages of Gary speed in your paper tomorrow . The guy that lost his.life in.afghan might have his.name mentioned if.he is.lucky. both deserve the full.respect for us.... aside just to add I have the.upmost respect for shay given today. Well done.fella.

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[quote user="CantonsHero"]Sickening thing is that Gary Speed got applause by 20,000 people and a load of celebrities coming out to say how great he was. He chose to die.

The soldier was protecting more than 20,000 people; much more. He will have no-one famous saying how great he was. He chose to protect, and died.

I find it absolutely appalling how Gary Speed''s death is being reported. "He was found hanged; no one will know what happened". This is utter crap. "He committed suicide. No-one has any idea why." The media is painting this just like they would a heart attack or a fatal accident. No-one is reporting on it and asking hard questions. I find it troubling.[/quote]

Both Gary Speed''s death and that of the soldier''s death are shocking and appalling loses. I understand where you''re coming from. However when soldier''s sign up to the Army they serve and pretect their country in dangerous circumstances so there is always a chance of death. However, Gary Speed''s death was totally unexpected, so naturally it''s going to court more media attention. He was clearly a well liked and respected man. Yes he chose to die, but we really shouldn''t pass judgement if his head was a mess, or attempt to find tangiable reasons to what made him commit suicide when his family are grieving. It would be very disrespectful.

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I''m not saying get up in their faces and ask hard questions. In fact I want the exact opposite. I''m a school teacher and I feel extremely sorry for the kids here.

I work with a lot of underprivileged students who have lost family members; some through abuse, some through death, some because the family member has plain left, and I can tell you that some of these kids are messed up. I can only imagine what the kids of Gary Speed''s must be thinking. But seeing their father painted as some tragic hero must be really confusing for them. They must feel awful, and knowing kids, they will feel like they are to blame.

Then they will go back to school. It may be tomorrow, it may be next week; it may be after Christmas, but they will go back knowing that everyone knows what''s happened. They will see kids looking at them and know what they''re thinking. They might even be unlucky enough to have kids shout or taunt them with disparaging remarks.

Now obviously Gary Speed was going through some horrendous stuff. Looking back on it, he seems uneasy on Football Focus to start with yesterday, but that withstanding, it must be something serious, because he''s made the decision to end his life, and must have known that it would put his sons through absolute misery.

And that''s the thing that grates me; whether or not he had something awful going on, (and let''s hope to God he''s not done a Ryan Giggs), he''s weighed it up and done this, either knowing it would destroy him family, or not realising, and in neither case should he be thought of as a hero.

RIP Gary Speed; I hope that whatever pained you before is at peace, and that your family understand your decision and get all the support that they need.

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People who knew him are praising his professional achievements and his character, and that seems a perfectly legitimate thing to do. It appears that a lot of people thought he was a nice guy. The manner of his death doesn''t detract from what he had already achieved in his lifetime.

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It is quite right to think of the children but to suggest that this event is any less tragic than a heart attack or a fatal accident is deeply disturbing and suggests that there is still a level of prejudice and ignorance that only serve to make such sad events more likely.

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This really isn''t the place to be having a debate/argument, but I just want to say this to Bryangunnshairline and Cantons hero.

Firstly, its terrible that another soldier has died. It a shame any of them have too and I would rather they didn''t. But they sign up to join the army, knowing the risk. And they just aren''t in the public eye. Its nothing new, individual soldiers mean nothing to people who don''t know them, thats just the way life is. If you read in the paper one unnamed solider (or named but you have no idea who he is) has died, and then turn over to find someone famous who you liked died, which are you going to be more upset about? As i said, its horrible that they have to die, but they are doing a job that (apparently) needs doing and regrettably that involves casualties, but they of course still deserve respect and mentioning, it would be terrible if they were just completely ignored.

And CantonsHero, I think your looking at this in completely the wrong way. Firstly, who should the media be asking hard questions? If someone in your family died, would you be lining up answer questions? The only people who should be asking his family questions in the Police as then no doubt have to. They had Robbie Savage doing interviews, who had spoke to him the day before, was a friend etc. And he said there seemed to be nothing wrong with him (or something along those lines).

The most likely reasoning I think is probably some form of depression, which can probably be hidden away when in the public eye, when talking to friends, maybe even his family didn''t know.

But people are remembering who he was, are shocked by his death and the way he died, are thinking of his family who are undoubtedly going through a very hard time, which won''t end any time soon. Know one is saying Gary Speed died in an honourable way, or condoning his actions. But he was a very well liked man, a great footballer and seemingly a pretty good Wales manager and his death has effected hundreds of thousands of people in one way or another.

I was actually pretty annoyed when I read your post, if thats your feelings you could at least keep them to yourself for a few days, doesn''t matter how someone died/killed them self they don''t deserve that level of disrespect. Obviously you seem concerned about his children, which is fair enough i''m sure its going to be extremely hard for them and perhaps really mess their lives up and everyone should be thinking about them just as much if not more than Gary Speed. But while he was alive he was a great person, who obviously had something serious going on to cause him to commit suicide, something that perhaps he could not control easily (like depression).

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This is exactly why I said, ''opinions on suicide can evoke both ends of  a debate''.I''ve heard people refer to suicides as ''brave'' and given utmost sympathy.  On the other, they''ve been called the most selfish ******** going.But please don''t start flippin'' name calling again because somebody has an opposite opinion.

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Unless you''ve had experience of someone close to you with depression it''s very difficult to relate to these kind of events. Mr. Speed was evidently having severe problems at some level or other which he may or may not have kept hidden from everyone, perhaps even his family. This is not for anyone to really question as no-one will really know what he went through.

On one level it can appear selfish, on another it would have seemed to him he needed to do it. Whichever way, it is something that if anyone is experiencing problems with people they are close to - get them help - even if it may seem better to keep away. There is always another way, although if a person is determined to do it they will anyway.

Often it is a cry for help - a help to stop the pain they are going through. There is though, nearly always a way to sort out people''s problems.

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." If you read in the paper one unnamed solider (or named but you have no idea who he is) has died, and then turn over to find someone famous who you liked died, which are you going to be more upset about?" ...... The soldier killed for me. I can relate to the soldier far more than I can Gary speed. I''ve worn the same uniform as the soldier and I too have been on operations and lost brothers serving. I love and watch football and I can see from the outside Gary speed was a decent man. but I''ve never idolised the man. he never played for city or England. A normal guy that is killed serving his country deserves EQUAL respect on the same day a likable ex footballer dies. its just a bit more of a shock to you because you have seen him play and seen him on the t.v and its like , bloody hell Gary speed is dead? I''m shocked, so sad. where as the soldier you have never heard of. your right he did sign up and knew the risks but no,one signs up to go to war, obviously they know there is,a chance it may happen. Our forces are at war but because its not happening in our country its not always massive news. Esp as so many have fallen in afghan and its been going on some time now people like you think oh well thats another one gone. Then turn the paper over.

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