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    Gary Speed

    It kind of feels weird this thread swaying between discussions about mental health and depression, and Speed's attributes as a footballer, but it's kind of unavoidable. And I like what Dalliance and BOE have said recently on the latter subject.

    For all that Dalliance has a point about how he was initially shoe-horned into quite old-fashioned formations, he still made a massive difference as a wide player to Howard Wilkinson's Leeds (who I watched a fair bit back then, being based in the city at the time). The side that went up in 1990 was a pretty ugly and functional side, whose main idea of width appeared to be Mel Sterland bombing on in traditional British stylee. Speed's arrival on the scene the following season massively helped in changing all that, and Leeds were a much more swift and entertaining side between 90 and 92 than they are often given credit for.

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      Gary Speed

      It was a pretty functional defence they had. Chapman and Cantona worked pretty well for a big man, more skilled slightly smaller man combo, a mix that actually works less than people assume.

      Their midfield was the stand out though. McAllister, Speed and Strachan were all very good footballers with good engines. Batty wasn't much of a footballer, but he did the simple things and won the tackles which maybe the others would not. As a whole it was a team that was pretty well balanced and probably greater than the sum of some of its parts.

      Another talented Welsh player like Speed who became a default left midfielder cum winger in a flat four was Kevin Sheedy at Everton. Similarly, I never really thought that was the position that you would play him in were he at his peak just now. That both him and Speed had fine careers playing slightly skewed roles for their skillsets reflects very well on both.

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        Gary Speed

        Im still stunned by this. I was driving when the news broke on Rad5, the presenter gasped,then stumbling over his words linked to the beebs man at the Swansea v Villa game. In the background Ian Dowie, Michael Gray and a journo could be heard gasping and saying "oh no". A truly awful broadcasting moment.
        A helluva footballer and by all accounts a great bloke. My main memory of him would be his heading ability for a "winger". The oppo's centre halves would be marking Chapman & the Leeds centre halves from dead balls when maybe they shouldve been on Speeds case.
        RIP

        I didnt realise Sheedy was Welsh.

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          Gary Speed

          Apparently, there is a lot of talk of Gary Speed getting put onto the Manager award which, if it is true, is appalling. Speed did fantastic work for us this season and that should have been recognised on its own merit, not because he has died.

          Obviously, they should do a tribute but anything else would seem so token

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            Gary Speed

            Sheedy is Irish.

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              Gary Speed

              Born in Wales though. I'm not sure where he grew up.

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                Gary Speed

                He grew up in Builth Wells.

                Legend has it he was called up to Irish u21s but contacted FAW to ask if he was going to be in Wales u21 squad before accepting the Irish invitation.

                The FAW refused to tell him so he opted for Ireland - by the time the Wales squad (Sheedy included) came out, we'd lost him.

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                  Gary Speed

                  Oh fucking hell.

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                    Gary Speed

                    On the day that the Star's sensationalism is detailed and exposed, they spin the story that five players have sought help as five "on the brink" of suicide.

                    And it's so gleeful. The headline is so gleeful.

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                      Gary Speed

                      Kevin Sheedy is as Irish to me as Ray Houghton was.

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                        Gary Speed

                        I didn't know that about Sheedy. I made the - admittedly hugely unsound - assumption that he played for Ireland therefore he was Irish.

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                          Gary Speed

                          Rod Wallace and Chapman was the main pairing for that Leeds title winning side. I think Cantona's role was pretty slight in comparison and he vied with Carl Shutt at times?

                          The defence was hard as nails and had the rapid Dorigo. Lukic a good keeper. But that midfield was balanced and excellent. My memory of that time was watching their home games on TV and how for 20-25 mins at least they ran all over teams, even Man Utd. It was quite something. I'm with E10 I thought they were a much more vibrant and exciting team than is remembered.

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                            Gary Speed

                            Nothing to add to this thread, thanks to all those who posted links and for what has been written.

                            I guess the inquest is standard practice.

                            RIP Gary Speed, what else can we say?

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                              Gary Speed

                              My very belated condolences, too. Speed was a fine, fine player from a different age who now appeared to have won the belief of what looks to be a decent young Wales team.

                              The manner of his death is, of course, horrific, but we know nothing and should probably speculate even less.

                              However, having seen him in apparent good spirits with his old mucker McAllister on Saturday's Football Focus, it makes the whole event appear even more shocking. I never thought that Alan Shearer had it in him to move me, but his devastation and grief at the loss of a 'best pal' who was with him just hours earlier for the Utd/Newcastle match is tangible.

                              Thoughts obviously to all directly connected to Gary Speed - most of all, his family.

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                                Gary Speed

                                Hofzinser wrote:
                                I didn't know that about Sheedy. I made the - admittedly hugely unsound - assumption that he played for Ireland therefore he was Irish.
                                Nor me. Another cock-up by the FAW, it seems.

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                                  Gary Speed

                                  I can't say that I watched too many of Gary Speed's performances that closely, but the thing that always struck me about playing a team with him in it, was that he was going make the opposition play better as a team. He was a great man for making the unselfish run, or playing the unselfish pass, which had the effect of making his team play better, and his teammates look better.

                                  That is a bad thing in an opponent.

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                                    Gary Speed

                                    Kevin Sheedy is as Irish to me as Ray Houghton was.

                                    70% of their fathers generation emigrated. If their children want to play for Ireland, that makes them Irish enough. People born in britain with at least one irish parent make up about 7 percent of our population, and made up most of the immigrants to Ireland over the last 15 years.

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                                      Gary Speed

                                      Just out of interest Berba, how does that number compare with immigrants from eastern Europe?

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                                        Gary Speed

                                        I think that it's about half returning irish, half everyone else put together.

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                                          Gary Speed

                                          Apologies for the thread diversion.

                                          Dunc, according to the 2006 Census, there were 612,629 people in Ireland then that were born outside the state. 271,781 were born in the UK or 44%. There were 144,630 (23%) from Eastern Europe (taking a fairly broad definition of Eastern Europe there). Figures come from here (pdf link). It's safe to say that the percentage of the UK born people who were long term residents in ireland would be higher than those from Eastern europe though.

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                                            Gary Speed

                                            Update on the investigation:
                                            http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/news/_/id/7294916/wife-found-wales-coach-gary-speed-hanged-home-police-tell-inquest

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                                              Gary Speed

                                              I don't think the inquest can do much to establish motive. AFAIK inquests can only say "it was suicide" and there's no compulsion to say why he did it.

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                                                Gary Speed

                                                All I can say is I'm glad Australia doesn't have the Star, Mirror, Sun or Daily Mail. The newspapers over here are pretty ropey but nowhere near the level of gleeful cuntishness on display on that Star front page.

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                                                  Gary Speed

                                                  hofzinser wrote:
                                                  I didn't know that about Sheedy. I made the - admittedly hugely unsound - assumption that he played for Ireland therefore he was Irish.
                                                  dalliance wrote:
                                                  Kevin Sheedy is as Irish to me as Ray Houghton was.
                                                  Kevin Sheedy's father is an Irish born citizen, which made Kevin Sheedy himself automatically an Irish citizen at birth. The same goes for Mick McCarthy, Kevin Kilbane and a number of others.

                                                  Ray Houghton used the Granny-rule, which means he wasn't automatically an Irish citizen at birth, but was eligible to apply for Irish citizenship if he wanted.

                                                  I'm sure Sheedy himself would describe himself as both Welsh and Irish. And there's nothing wrong with that.

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                                                    Gary Speed

                                                    Kelly Jones sings Welsh football anthem in tribute to Gary Speed

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