Gary Speed

[Fmfox]

i would rather have applause than silence because then atleast people cant ruin it

[foxoffderby]

I don't think 60 seconds from people's lives to just show a little respect for him is a big deal, sorry.

I agree with this.

Although Speed had nothing to do with LCFC I think this incident and really shocked the football world and the genreal public. I for one remember Speed in that great Leeds team that won the title they had one of the best midfield 4 I've ever seen in Speed, MacAllister, Batty and Strachan. They werent all the best in the world or the most skillfull but as a unit they were up there.

Ive been thinking about Gary Speed and why he did what he did, and the family hes leaving behind all weekend. Its upset me a great deal. As a familly man myself I can only imagine what his wife and sons are going through and truma and mental scaring this will leave the children.

As Mikey T said 60 seconds just to show a bit of respect is not a big deal

RIP Speedo.

[Captain...]

Perhaps a bit of silence over the whys and wherefores of this wouldn't go amiss.

Speculating over the cause of someone's death seems in itself disrespectful.

Just a thought.

Agreed, sorry for my part in fuelling speculation, it is only natural to try and understand why, because it really makes no sense. The accusations of selfishness and cowardice cannot be proved or defended without knowing more facts, of which there are very little at the moment. I have a bad feeling that more about this story will be revealed in the press and on the internet over the coming weeks I just hope that it doesn't cause any more grief to his family.

[Salieri]

I don't think 60 seconds from people's lives to just show a little respect for him is a big deal, sorry.

Agreed.

[HEGGSY]

Agreed.

Seconded

[Corky]

There should be something as a mark of respect. He was manager of a home country and also national manager of a key member of our squad.

I won't be there tomorrow unfortunately but I'm sure the respect will be given.

[Kitchandro]

I can see there being 1 minute's silence but will be turned into 1 minute's applause for him

This, minute silences never seem to work at our ground.

I have no problem with an applause/silence. But I do think it should be the same when any footballer dies. For example, if we honour a player who has no links to our club, shouldn't all the other clubs honour it when one of our players dies, such as Bobby Smith, John Sjoberg, Keith Weller etc?

Or were they less important because they were less famous?

[Corky]

I suppose, with Gary Speed, it's a little different as he was heavily involved in British football at the time of his death, so still very much in the public eye.

[RonnieTodger]

So if you were good we'll show you respect, if you were some average premier league player or championship player we'll all probably ignore your death because you weren't very famous?

If you are going to show one player respect then you should show them all the same respect, whether they are 42 or 82, whether you kill yourself or die of old age. It's unfeasible to do that, so there has to be a line drawn otherwise we'll be doing minutes silences every week.

Bobby Robson managed England, we're an English club and English fans. So he managed our team, we're connected to that man. Speed has nothing to do with us.

It's not about people not wanting to show their respects, nobody has a problem with observing it should the club wish to have one. If they do, then I will pay mine.

That's irrelevant , it's the English Football League. I, personally believe we should have had minutes of silence for Adam Stansfield and Matt Gadsby. This is the subject of Gary Speed so don't put my compassion in to question just because he was playing/managing at a higher level.

[John Matrix]

i prefer a minutes applause celebrating their life. obviously the fact he took his own life makes it a bit different than someone passing away from natural courses but i'd still prefer that.

[Kitchandro]

And you are all jumping the gun for thinking he was some kind of saint.

For all anyone knows he might have been a nonce.

However given the character references from friends / colleagues etc this seems unlikely. Whether it was depression by definition or some other problem I think we can all agree you dont hang yourself because everything is just fine.

So my point remains that is takes a bigger man to face your problems than run away from them and kill yourself.

The people left behind suffer much much more that the dead person ever will, and when you have young kids that is so unfair.

What would my kids have done had I decided I could'nt cope with my health problems and my wife had found me hanging in our garage and then had to explain to my two kids why they will never see their dad again?

In my opinion.

Christians may disagree in Speed's case.

I think it's more amazing that you know what death's like, I'm sure you've never been diagnosed with that.

[Kitchandro]

I suppose, with Gary Speed, it's a little different as he was heavily involved in British football at the time of his death, so still very much in the public eye.

I agree that makes it more shocking, but it doesn't mean other people don't deserve the same respect he gets.

[marbelladave]

This, minute silences never seem to work at our ground.

I have no problem with an applause/silence. But I do think it should be the same when any footballer dies. For example, if we honour a player who has no links to our club, shouldn't all the other clubs honour it when one of our players dies, such as Bobby Smith, John Sjoberg, Keith Weller etc?

Or were they less important because they were less famous?

This to me is very much the point....

To my mind this 'compulsion' to 'show respect' to a famous person is just another part of our obsession with fame and celebrity.

If you knew the man or were connected to him in some other way then fair enough, but otherwise, leave his family and friends to deal with this as best they can.

Speed was a very decent player, promising manager and, by most accounts, a well liked man but he was not a national figure (in England anyway) so commemorating his death, celebrating his life or whatever is best left to those who knew him.

As a further point, I find some of the speculation regarding his death to be disrespectful in the extreme.......

[Kent]

I agree that makes it more shocking, but it doesn't mean other people don't deserve the same respect he gets.

To be honest mate I don't think this is the right time or place to be having any sort of debate or argument about it.

[Kitchandro]

To be honest mate I don't think this is the right time or place to be having any sort of debate or argument about it.

Well this is a specific thread about the minute silence so I don't see how it's not.

[Freeman's Wharfer]

I don't think we should have one.

Good player, yes. Nice guy, apparently. But there are so many more players like him and so many more people like him whose death will go unnoticed. There has to be a line drawn at who gets a minute's silence and who doesn't. What that line should be, I don't know. But there obviously already is one because as others have said other players don't have one, Joe Bloggs doesn't have one.

For me personally, the death of someone unfortunate enough to get cancer, or some other illness that they can do nothing about, is far more tragic than someone taking their own life. It's sad and shocking but for me the reaction has been completely over the top.

[Collymore]

I don't see why the moan in is covering it as all the national stations are analysing, you can tune in to them if people want to discuss.

[LCFC BEAST]

If you don't feel like doing it for him, do it for Andy King and other footballers who were brought up with his presence. Not only has it hit people like us but it affects the players too and with the tribute King gave to Speed it's only right we have either a minute silence or applause

[Babylon]

A nonce is a kiddy fiddler, not a homosexual.

And before you start saying i am accusing him of being one I am not, I was just pointing out no one knows why he killed himself yet.

I find your patronising attitude towards my problems and illness offensive. I am on medication for my depression and very strong medication for my illness, not that it's any of your business. I'm proud I faced up to the challenges in my life and did the right things both for myself and my wife and children. Whatever your problems are the point I making is that to face them is much harder than to run away from them.

That is a fact, and when you have a family you cant only think for yourself, others are relying on you, trust you, love you, respect you, need you.

I respected you for what you wrote on these forums and agreed with your sensible approach often. However given the abusive way you have just spoken to me about my experiences and opinions I now see you in a very different light.

The high ground in any topic is a dangerous place to be unless you have some humility towards people even if you dont agree with them.

Taking the moral high ground in an abusive manner and based on someone lying about their own life threatening problems in rerality is bang out of order.

Well I find your attitude of it just being a case of someone needing to be a "bigger man" offensive.

My girlfriend had been on medication for depression. My cousin has battled very serious depression for 25 years and has to be under constant supervision due to self harm and attempted suicide. Someone I know and a friend have both killed themselves for various reasons.

You have been through depression and were mentally able to cope and sort the problems. I'm very pleased you did. But just because you did doesn't mean everyone is able to. Not all cases are like yours. This is a mental illness we are talking about, your mind controls your body. If you aren't in control of one you can't control the other.

I have seen my cousin fall into depression and change instantly. They were a completely different person it was that bad. When they came round they wouldn't even be able to remember the hours, days or weeks that had past.

During the bad times they have hurt themselves and on occasion lashed out of others. It's not a case of them being a "bigger man" and snapping out of it. They aren't in control of their mind, they simply aren't themselves.

I apologise for hinting that maybe you hadn't suffered from it, but it was far from abusive. I just find it staggering that someone who has dealt with it or been around it could suggest it's just a case of everyone needing to be a bigger man.

It's an illness as you know. Like many serious illnesses some people respond to treatment and some don't. And the more unfortunate don't know they have it until it's too late.

[Callabinho]

He was obviously in a dark place, we can't even start to comprehend what he must have been feeling to take his own life, what we can do is remember what he did for British football, and remember him as the gentleman he was.

[Finnegan]

I don't understand people who think we shouldn't have a minute's silence. I'm clearly biased but as an active member of the football community, Speed's loss is clearly going to be felt by a great number of players and staff right across the game and I'm sure the vast majority of English and Welsh clubs will be holding a silence before their games this week.

We're not talking about putting a statue up or naming a stand in his honour, are we? It's just a brief mark of respect to reflect on a very tragic passing for all the football world.

Babylon might be right in saying some eighty year old who'd gone off in to the wilderness may be able to slip to his death without causing much of a stir but I don't think that's who Gary Speed was. He was a genuine hero for a lot of people, played til late in his career, was always a hard grafting player on the field, the sort of player fans and colleagues alike adore.

His passing was sudden, unexpected, horrifically early and has stunned people up and down the country.

As if there WOULDN'T be a silence.

And do we really need to start the "I / my family member / friend is more depressed than you" pissing contest? Seriously? Lots of people will know someone affected, the illness is FAR more common than most people anticipate and that's the very message that radiates from cases like this.

[Fox92]

I don't understand people who think we shouldn't have a minute's silence. I'm clearly biased but as an active member of the football community, Speed's loss is clearly going to be felt by a great number of players and staff right across the game and I'm sure the vast majority of English and Welsh clubs will be holding a silence before their games this week.

We're not talking about putting a statue up or naming a stand in his honour, are we? It's just a brief mark of respect to reflect on a very tragic passing for all the football world.

Babylon might be right in saying some eighty year old who'd gone off if in to the wilderness may be able to slip to his death without causing much of a stir but I don't think that's who Gary Speed was. He was a genuine hero for a lot of people, played til late in his career, was always a hard grafting player on the field, the sort of player fans and colleagues alike adore.

His passing was sudden, unexpected, horrifically early and has stunned people up and down the country.

As if there WOULDN'T be a silence.

Great post, totally agree.

[Finnegan]

Further, both squads will be fielding Welsh internationals and whilst I don't advocate the handing of the captaincy to King purely as a result of this I do think their respective clubs should and WILL give them the opportunity to pay their respects publicly and professionally.

[Guest ttfn]

I wish people would stop banging on about how Andy King feels. He played what, 5 times under Speed? I'm sure it was a shock, but it's not like he's lost a lifelong friend like Shay Given and co. That's not to say he's not grieving, but it's no reason to have a minute's silence in and of itself.

I can understand every club in the Football League having a minute's silence because Speed was the Wales manager and a recent and well-respected professional who died in shocking circumstances. I can't understand the argument that Leicester City should have a minute's silence because Andy King might be a bit upset.

Sometimes it's not all about us.

[Guest Bilo]

I don't understand people who think we shouldn't have a minute's silence. I'm clearly biased but as an active member of the football community, Speed's loss is clearly going to be felt by a great number of players and staff right across the game and I'm sure the vast majority of English and Welsh clubs will be holding a silence before their games this week.

We're not talking about putting a statue up or naming a stand in his honour, are we? It's just a brief mark of respect to reflect on a very tragic passing for all the football world.

Babylon might be right in saying some eighty year old who'd gone off in to the wilderness may be able to slip to his death without causing much of a stir but I don't think that's who Gary Speed was. He was a genuine hero for a lot of people, played til late in his career, was always a hard grafting player on the field, the sort of player fans and colleagues alike adore.

His passing was sudden, unexpected, horrifically early and has stunned people up and down the country.

As if there WOULDN'T be a silence.

And do we really need to start the "I / my family member / friend is more depressed than you" pissing contest? Seriously? Lots of people will know someone affected, the illness is FAR more common than most people anticipate and that's the very message that radiates from cases like this.

I totally agree with this.

Speed's death has had an enormous impact because it was such a terrible shock to all concerned.

In a way, I'm glad that people are writing about their stories of depression. Somebum and Mack in particular have been very candid on their battles with depression on this and the Gary Speed thread in General Football and Sport, and if Speed's passing has provoked similar discussions then perhaps he has helped to show that anybody can fall victim to mental illness. As I've said elsewhere, you do not need to live a crap life to suffer.