Gary Speed Welsh manager has died

[Noelys Guitar]

Wrong forum but very sad news. Story just breaking on the BBC.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-15909277

[DannyInvincible]

The Telegraph are reporting it as suicide: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/8918628/Wales-boss-Gary-Speed-found-dead.html

Shocking.

[backstothewall]

I'm in a state of shock

Bobby Gould is on BBC 5 live at the Swansea v Villa game. Sounds like he he struggling top hold back the tears. Seems like he just happened to be at the ground and has been drafted in the cover for John Hartson who was so upset he had to go home.

[tetsujin1979]

Can't believe I was watching him presenting Football Focus yesterday, and today I'm reading about his death

[ArdeeBhoy]

The frailty of the human condition. So sad.

Fitting tribute by Howard Wilkinson there just now on the Beeb.

[tricky_colour]

Very sad new, I just heard it on Radio 5 live, very moving listening to all the callers.
A really shock, he had been having great success managing the Welsh nation side so one would have imagined that personally
things must have been going great for him, so it makes it all the more unbelievable. Tragic news.

[Sullivinho]

Absolutely shocking. Heard about it an hour ago and can't get my head around it at all.

[Bayern Munchies]

Crazy stuff and I'm still in a state of shock after hearing it. He was a fine player and had turned Wales fortunes around ten fold in such a short space of time and was becoming a fine manager. As people have said he was only on the telly yesterday and seemed fine. Really puts things into perspective and shows that no matter how happy a person might seem on the outside you never know what's going on with them on the inside :(

Very sad day for football, R.I.P Gary

[BonnieShels]

Was watching SSN and had to turn it off and started to well up. Shocked to the core.

[Stuttgart88]

Very sad news and comiserations to Cymro whose contributions to this forum I really appreciate.

What a shame to see one of the nice guys gone from a game that has been hijacked by spivs, creeps and opportunists. I hope the excellent work he started with the Welsh side continues.

[back of the net]

Woke up this morning in Toronto and saw the news on the web....................absolutely lost for words.
The football world has lost a really good man.

Sincerest commiserations to his family and the welsh supporters.

[French Toasht]

Shocking coincidence that this appears this week in the Secret Footballer.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2011/nov/25/the-secret-footballer?newsfeed=true

Condolences to his family and friends. RIP

[The Fly]

Rest in peace Gary.

Sincere condolences to his family and friends.

[culloty82]

Really shocking news - he was an outstanding professional for almost 20 years, and the way he'd begun in management in Wales, they had every chance of qualifying for the World Cup. It seems you can never really understand the pressures someone might be going through in their personal life. Sympathies to all who knew him, and to Cymro, who's been a regular contributor here over the years.

[geysir]

Yeah, he was an outstanding professional and a gentleman, very baffling and truly sad that it has come to this end.

[swinfordfc]

RIP Gary Speed

[CraftyToePoke]

Very shocked and saddened at this news. May he rest in peace.

[Lionel Ritchie]

So long Speedo. Condolences to his family, the Welsh lads and indeed everyone touched by this. Anywhere I've commented on this tragedy I've posted a link to AWARE (http://www.aware.ie/) who offer great support to those affected by depression and may be vulnerable or at risk.

[SwanVsDalton]

http://gfx.dagbladet.no/labrador/191/191881/19188160/jpg/active/978x409.jpg

Shay Given was at the heart of some enduring images of today's sadness. Testament to the impact Speed had on those who knew him and Given's professionalism. I'm sure the clean sheet will be dedicated to his former teammate.

[Fixer82]

Terriby terribly sad. Was in town today and it came on the tv and I heard a couple of people calling him a selfish ba$tard which i always hate to hear when it comes to such a tragic event. The man wasn't thinking logically and felt this was the best option for him. It breaks my heart to imagine what he was going through in his own head to even think of doing something like this. I feel so sorry for him and for his family that are left behind but would like to concentrate on what he brought/gave to us, the footballing public. He was a great player, a great manager, a great professional and an all-round credit to the game of soccer. May he rest in peace!

[nigel-harps1954]

Heard this yesterday morning on the radio. Absolutely stunned by it. Shocking news, the world has lost the true gentleman footballer. RIP Gary

[elroy]

RIP and the sincerest of condolences to his family particularly. An awful tragedy. The easiest thing to say is what a selfish thing to do but clearly someone in that state is not in a clear thinking state of mind. I am going to call it an illness because it is and what an illness it is such that he was able to present himself and look well on FF on Saturday only for that to happen a few hours later.
Also express our sympathies to the Welsh footballing public - certainly one of the better ones.

[Olé Olé]

Shocking coincidence that this appears this week in the Secret Footballer.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2011/nov/25/the-secret-footballer?newsfeed=true

Condolences to his family and friends. RIP

I read that during the week and it never even registered with me when I found out about Speed. Richard Sadlier spoke on Newstalk this morning about the issue about his experiences as a professional footballer suffering from depression.

Welled up when I heard the news. He always struck me as a genuine chap. When Speed was at Newcastle during my most formative years as a football supporter and while all the jokers were coming in and out of that club picking up fat pay cheques, Speed was the ever-glowing epitome of consistency, hard-work and skill. After that, at Bolton, he he was still putting in great performances, in spite of his age. RIP Gary Speed.

[DeLorean]

I saw a little piece on Sky Sports News some time back about how depression is a serious problem amongst some footballers after they hang up their boots. They find it very difficult to fill the void that is left over. I find it unlikely that this would have been the case for Gary Speed, seeing as he was still so involved in the footballing world but he obviously lived for playing football, given how well he looked after himself and the length of which his career lasted. I don't think there has ever been a footballer more universally liked and respected, and this isn't just one of those nice things one would say about a person after their passing. Deeply disturbing news that has rattled everybody in the football world and beyond. I honestly can't even begin to imagine what his friends and, in particular, wife and children are going through.

RIP Gary Speed.

[Wolfie]

Very sad and shocking news.

Gary Speed was very well liked and respected inside and outside of football. In his current endeavours, he was well on the way to turning things around for Wales.

Condolences to his family - a devastating loss.

[jbyrne]

i saw football focus for the first time in years on saturday. never bother with it but when i was flicking around the channels and spotted that speed and mcallister where the guests i knew it would be worth watching. couldnt believe it when i heard the news 24 hrs later. dont think i have ever been shocked as much about a sportsmans death as much as this before.

RIP

[Fixer82]

i saw football focus for the first time in years on saturday. never bother with it but when i was flicking around the channels and spotted that speed and mcallister where the guests i knew it would be worth watching. couldnt believe it when i heard the news 24 hrs later. dont think i have ever been shocked as much about a sportsmans death as much as this before.

RIP

Have to agree. It really is out of the blue. More shocking even than poor Darren Sutherland

[pineapple stu]

I think it's his age as well that makes it so out of the blue. You tend to associate this with younger people (maybe late teens and twenties). Have to wonder what was going on in his mind. But the world's a strange place at times.

RIP.

[ArdeeBhoy]

Some highly dubious rumours regarding the Brit.gutter press doing the rounds, as a possible catalyst for this.

Tragic though this was, let's hope this wasn't the reason...

[Bayern Munchies]

Hard to watch :(


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=HVQoUpo9rX0

[BonnieShels]

That's terrible.

Oddly this is hitting me more than it did originally for some reason. Have managed to avoid it for most of the weekend as best as I could possibly.

Having had the experience of dealing with people amongst my friends and family who suffer from depression, a lot of whom I've just found out in the last few months, there's no way to tell for a lot of people from their outwardly persona that they are actually suffering from it.
Having had a work colleague who committed suicide the only thing I can say is that the day before he killed himself he was in the best form of his life. A lot of times it is said that when someone has decided to end it all and they have come to terms with what they are about to do they become calm and at ease with themselves and life. It almost seems like the prospect of no longer having to deal with depression etc. any more releases them from the suffering.
Whilst right now we actually don't know what happened with Gary (officially) I feel that people reading into the fact that he was in good form on Saturday may not actually be aware of that possibility.

Lord rest him.

[Razors left peg]

I was watchin that report on Sky sports news last night when the reporter broke down in tears, was incredibly emotional to watch and I was welling up myself.Some one else here has said that its the most shocked they have been by any sports mans death and I feel exactly the same way. Fantastic professional and was just starting to turn Wales into a young team to be respected and looked like like he had a great career in management ahead of him

RIP Gary Speed