I agree with all that you`ve said, he`s somebody that you would never imagine to have had this type of fragility, but I guess some people are very good at hiding what they feel below the surface. Also I haven`t read anymore about the the incident, to know if there were any other reasons for his suicide such as illness, relationship problems etc.

R.I.P Gary Speed
 

Yeah really shocked.

Even more shocked than I would've been if it were one of my friends or family.

His family have come out and thanked the public for there support but didn't hint towards any signs of problems.

It's none of my business but I cant help wonder WHY WHY WHY???

R.I.P Gary lad, once a blue, always a blue.

I honestly don't believe it. I actually saw the interview and I remember thinking about when he was at Bolton and how far he'd come. And then this.

BBC Sport - Sunderland sack Steve Bruce as manager

I'm going to flaunt my hitherto unspoken clairvoyant ability and say that I totally saw this coming. It's about time to - along with Bolton and Blackburn, I'd thought Sunderland were a side that needed a change of managerial personnel to move forward as a club.

And before anyone turns that around on Bobby Martinez, Wigan are screwed regardless of who their manager is :p:

I`m quite shocked, I know it makes sense that he should go but I thought Owen Coyle and poor old Steve Kean would go before him. As for Bobby Martinez I really like him and I think with the result going their way on Saturday, they may well get onto a decent run as he likes to play good football.

If the latics do go on a good run, it almost certainly won't be this side of new year's. We've literally got all of Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Man U to come over the next 5 fixtures, so I reckon we'll be mired in the drop zone for a while yet.

Kean should've gone at the end of last season, really. Blackburn clearly have perfectly good players more than capable of staying up, it's just that their manager is way out of his depth at this level. As for Coyle, it's been obvious for quite some time that he just doesn't have what it takes to get Bolton to the next level - he should've stayed at Burnley, basically.

****, that`s a bad run you`ve got there.

Call me a sadist but I love watching Blackburn these days, especially with the constant "Kean Out" banners on show regardless of whether Blackburn win, draw or lose:finger:

To be fair Owen Coyle did a good job when he initially took over as Bolton boss but this season it hasn`t worked out and in hindsight Burnley was where he should`ve stayed.

As for the drop, at least one possibly two will go from Blackburn, Bolton, Wigan, Sunderland or Wolves. With one or two going from Swansea, Norwich or QPR. This season is interesting in that all three promoted sides are doing better than expected, but like always at least two of them will go on really bad runs in the new year which could cost them their place in the top flight.

You know, it's a shame about Steve Bruce. He's had some very good times, and I remember when he was with Reading and really made some good decisions.
And sadly, Wigan will not be in the Premier league next year. There is no possibility whatsoever of them not getting relegated.

It was time for Bruce to go. He has a vote of completely no confidence up here now.

It's not like he's done nothing in his spell in charge. Some of our fans forget what he did do while he was here. However we cant move forward with Bruce, he just doesn't seem to be that kind of manager. That and some of the baffling decisions he has made this season, along with never replacing Bent, letting Gyan go out on loan, and players like Welbeck and Onouha going back to their clubs after their loan spells, we actually are moving backwards rather than continuing to make progress this season.

Bruce has blamed individual error for the Norwich result this season, where he said we rallied towards the end but needed to do so sooner, get our goal sooner, and we might have been able to then go on and get something. Thats true, but we rallied when Bruce made a change and brought a striker on. A change he should have made earlier then maybe, if hes gonna blame his players?

He also started 4-5-1 at home to Wigan. Sorry Bulldog, but you put out a team to win at home to Wigan, and thats just the way it is.

Will the change be for the better? Who knows, but a change is necessary.

It's never a good sign when he blames "individual error" on a loss that could have been averted. I hope for your sake that you end up with someone decent after him.
I'd like to think that he had made some good decisions in his time, though, although it's right that he bears the brunt of the blame for the current mess you are in.

Kieran Richardson gave the ball away time and time again in that Norwich game. I mean he must have given away possession about 10 times in he first half, if not more. There was some poor individual performances. However we weren't playing an attacking game. Bruce had spent money on two new strikers, both were sitting on the bench. He's even started games with no strikers on the field this season, rather than play his new guys.

When he made his change, gave us more in attack, we responded well and could have turned that game around had the change come sooner and we had more time on our hands. I would just love for Steve Bruce to accept more of the blame sometimes. It would make it easier to deal with the mistakes he makes.

But hey, when Kieran was giving the ball away he was playing out of position at left-back. He was standing in for our usual left-back, right-back Phil Bardsley. We arent scoring enough goals, maybe because he's often started with over £10m worth of strikers on the bench, and left midfielder/attacking midfielder Stephane Sessegnon as a lone striker. To say I dont understand some of his decisions would be putting it mildly.

Anyone watching the United game vs Chrystal palace? I'd have gone to see it but I felt ill after cross country this evening.

Oh dear. I'd better start by saying that it was a good game! I was only watching it intermittently, so I may not have everything right! First of all, Chrystal Palace were easily the better side. They played excellently, and for all I might say, we were disgraceful. Their first goal was fantastic, I blinked a few times afterwards! Beautiful free kick, IMO. The second wasn't impressive, but shows just how far we're going to have to climb this season.
I think for singling out: I'm going to have to pick Smalling. He really wasn't up to it. He was left spinning a lot of the time, made some very silly errors and probably shouldn't have played. I think he's got a long way to go.

At the end of the day, it's only the carling cup and no one gives a sh*t!

We say the same about David Moyes!!!

:banghead:

Although it looks likelier now than it ever has done, I'm not so sure - we've been written off as relegation fodder every season we've been in the Prem, and it always worked out in the end. Whatever happens though, Martinez should stay as manager, as I couldn't really see us doing any better with a new guy at the helm.

Anyway, the big story of the day;

BBC Sport - Euro 2012: England begin tournament against France

That's France, Sweden and Ukraine in our group for Euro '12.

It's a tough group, but a doable one. It really could go either way for us. I'm just not gonna bother calling it this time - we got a dead easy group for the last world cup, and look how that turned out.

That said, I was still pulling for a spot in group A all the same.

Poor Ireland!

I don't think we would normally be good enough to beat France, but after that Domenech disaster they've struggled to sort their team out properly. I hope we can pull ourselves together for this.

Literally couldn't care less about Euro 2012, or International Football. All about Arsenal.

Getting beaten by them at Wembley last year wasn't easy to take, but they're in more or less the same position as us - young, largely inexperienced team, not quite settled on a starting XI and with a lot to prove to their fans. Could be a really exciting game we play against them.

Whatever happens with England, I can't wait for the Euros. European Championships are always so much better for the neutral than world cups, and looking at this draw I don't think this tournament's going to disappoint.

I agree. It could be a very close game. I shall greatly look forward to it.

I think it will be tough.

But I'll be looking forward to it once the football season's over and Everton have finished fourth!!! ;)

I can see England losing the France game, beating Ukraine, but I'm not sure about the Sweden game.
I reckon it could be a draw and possibly go to gd or something.....
Is that possible....? Runners up on goal difference with 4 points ....?

I`d say the Ukraine game will be their toughest, as teams like Ukraine seldom lose at home and I expect them to be tougher hosts than Poland. England are better than Sweden and France are about on the same level as England and I think England will take second spot at the expense of France. In general I think its the best group England could have got along with the Poland group, only Group C and especially Group B look very hard. I think it will finish like so.

Ukraine
England
France
Sweden

I dunno.... We drew with Sweden in the 2006 world cup, but both sides had similarly experienced players. Now we have a younger squad, similar in experience and ability to France, and Sweden don't seem to be doing that well. I think we'll manage without having to worry about goal difference.

Is it a general consensus on here than people care about how England do? Because on my football forums (specifically Arsenal) we really don't give a toss about the National teams.

If you dont give a sh*t about England, why bother posting? :)

Strange how somebody from Bolton likes Arsenal, what`s wrong with your local team?

They're sh*t!

Ha just kidding :)

Glory supporter. People claim that I ought to support a smaller team like Macclesfield or Wilmslow, but hell: I live much closer to Old Trafford. On a good day, I can see it. But someone from Bolton supporting Arsenal? They've only got a couple of English players in the squad, haven't they? And most of them are French.

You are aware how silly you guys sound?

I am a football fan, so of course I am going to post. I am not patriotic so I don't support England.

Also, Arsenal was passed down to me from my parents.

Its actually got better than it was, there are usually 2 English players in or around the starting 11 at the moment (Wilshere and Walcott) The French players are less dominant now as well.

We don`t sound any sillier than normal, but Bolton needs your help now!

Bolton can drown in a well for all I care.

I am an Arsenal fan, pretty much don't care how well Bolton do.

Regarding Arsenal, I really couldn't care less how many English players we have, would much rather see more French guys and a trophy than a Full XI of English players.

Are you 150 years old?

You don't have wells in Cheshire anymore? Unfortunate.

At least we have decent local football teams, though.

Wigan vs Arsenal is looking a very decent match so far.

Back in 2005.....

I personally find it sad how poorly supported our national team is. Regardless of what some may say, I think a hell of a lot more people cared about it around 1990-1996, when we had a better squad and a better record.

I`m surprised at that comment, most people that I come across really support the national team and I don`t feel there has been any real dip in support for it over the years. When England perform badly, sure there is a dip in enthusiasm but that soon rises when they start winning again.

When the world cup is on, pretty much one in three cars will be flying the England flag.

Although I think a lot of people think that it's a bit lame that our manager can't speak English properly....

I usually spend World Cups cringing when I see Arsenal players go into tackles and switching over the channel due to extreme boredom.

Eh. World cup games are just as interesting as the premier league games. In fact, I got very worked up about Rooney being sent off unfairly in 2006, but in the premier league I hardly care when anyone is sent off.

And it's not a question of patriotism. My family is scottish, as a matter of fact.