The 2011/12 Gary Speed Memorial Thread

[Cheeky Hughes]

Wow. Mancini looked as though he aged a good few years there.

[Plubby]

I like that spurs got a draw when we could have won and have still gained ground.

[Liam]

I hate that I'm pretty sure my post was probably just +1ed by 3 Man Utd fans

Not the last time I checked.

[Starvinho]

Despite the brilliance of Sunderland's win it just makes our slip up yesterday look even more costly, would have been nice to be 3 points clear especially with City playing Liverpool next too. Hopefully we can get 3 points on Wednesday but it'll be a tricky game for us away at Newcastle.

Very well done to Sunderland though, O'Neil has got them playing some decent football at the moment.

[The Future]

Blackburn deserved the win, it's the same thing that happened last season we had several injuries meaning Carrick/Fletcher had to drop into center back and we got past a few games(Wolfsburg and West Ham come to mind) but then we went to Fulham and they ripped us apart 3-0, Smalling and Rio should be fit for the next game so hopefully things will pick up.

Thank fuck that Sunderland got the win and stopped City from pulling away, they did it with a patched up back four as well! mad but very entertaining week!.

[Baddar]

Wasn't that Fulham collapse the season before? I thought the 2-1/Nani penalty miss/Hangelaand goal to draw was last season - could be wrong.

[Matt]

Wasn't that Fulham collapse the season before? I thought the 2-1/Nani penalty miss/Hangelaand goal to draw was last season - could be wrong.

Yeah, I think it was just before we battered you at Old Trafford.

[Liam]

Yeah, you are right. I was at the 3-0, and that was a couple of seasons back.

[IAceI]

I am very happy right now.

[Lineker]

606, Liverpool fan said "negrito" isn't racist. Jason Roberts said it's "unacceptable", fan then says "I'm not having that off you."

Wow + Damn.

[Colly]

I genuinely feel sorry for what I assume is the vast majority of Liverpool fans, the likes of that and the Collymore stuff is really building a shoddy reputation. I think most level headed folk will know its the vocal minority but unfortunately they get press and airtime.

Still not impressed with the actions of the players after the guilty verdict though, horrible statement to make and the exact opposite of the kick it out t shirts they'd have worn two months earlier.

[DavidMarrio]

It's always the same it's the stupid idiotic nobhead that phones in to programmes like 606 and thinks he is the voice of every single fan. Pisses me off fans like that. Seen it so many times with other clubs in the past.

[Cymbols]

Ji-sus christ, offside but lol

[DavidMarrio]

Ji done well to get round Hart there. Team fought well for the whole game and hopefully Sunderland can build on it and continue a run of form. If Steve Bruce was there it'd be a different story though I'd be wishing the opposite

[Adam]

606, Liverpool fan said "negrito" isn't racist. Jason Roberts said it's "unacceptable", fan then says "I'm not having that off you."

Wow + Damn.

There are no words. How did Roberts respond to that exactly?

[Jimmy]

I didn't see it, but hopefully he laughed him off for being a twat.

[Summers]

"Fuck you whiteboy, you gon' get got!"

[9 to 5]

Jason Roberts MBE would never say that.

[Lineker]

Some sad news before we turn our attention to today's games:

Gary Ablett, the only player to win the FA Cup with both Liverpool and Everton, has died at the age of 46 following a battle against non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

The defender played more than 100 games for both Merseyside clubs and Birmingham. He also managed Stockport.

Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish said: "The most important thing is to pay our respects to Gary, his wife Jacqueline, the two boys and his wee girl.

"It's a sad day for his family and everyone connected with Liverpool FC."

Having joined Liverpool as an apprentice in 1982, Ablett made his debut in December 1986.

Under manager Dalglish, in his first spell in charge of the Anfield club, he helped a dominant Reds win the League title in 1988 and 1990 and the FA Cup in 1989.

He was sold to arch-rivals Everton for £750,000 in January 1992 and went on to lift the FA Cup with them in 1995.

Ex-Liverpool striker Ian Rush paid tribute to his former team-mate.

"Gary was a really versatile player, somebody who would play anywhere the manager asked him," Rush told BBC Sport.

"The fact he played for both Liverpool and Everton says something about how good he was as a player.

"He summed up what Liverpool people are all about. He gave 100% to the team and my favourite memory of him was after the 1989 FA Cup final - he was so proud to win something for the team.

"Off the pitch, he was the perfect gentleman. He had a lovely family, which he brought up really well, and he was such a respectable person. If he could help you with anything, he would."

Former Liverpool defender Mark Lawrenson also shared fond memories of Ablett, who was his boot boy at the club.

"I think I had left the club when he broke into the first team, but it was obvious he was always going to get there," Lawrenson told BBC Sport.

"He knew he had to work hard to make it, and that is what he did.

"He had lots of pace to recover and he was very good on the ball, as many left-sided defenders tend to be.

"He was a good team-mate too, you could never have enough Gary Abletts in your team."

Alan Hansen was similarly effusive in his praise for his former Liverpool defensive partner.

"I enjoyed some great centre-back partnerships, but Gary was as good as any of the others. He was at the top of the tree as a player," he said.

"I was surprised when Liverpool sold him. For a player of his calibre and quality, Everton got a bargain for £750,000."

Pat Nevin played with Ablett for six months while the pair were at Everton and regularly lined up against him before Ablett moved to Goodison Park.

"Gary was a lovely, lovely guy who was liked by everyone," he said. "I don't think anyone will have a bad word to say about him.

"He was a classy defender and had decent quality going forward as well and he was not dirty in any way. But because of his understated way he was maybe under-rated by many people.

"It says something that I enjoyed playing against him even in the Merseyside derby, which is one of the most stressful games in world football, because he was just such a nice guy. I'm shocked and saddened."

After a loan spell at Sheffield United, he joined Birmingham in 1996 and went on to make 104 appearances there.

After short spells at Wycombe and Blackpool, Ablett finished his playing career at Long Island Rough Riders in the American A-League in 2001.

In 2002, he moved into coaching, working with Everton's youth academy until 2006 when he took over as Liverpool reserve team coach.

He became Stockport manager in July 2009 but endured a difficult season as the club, crippled by financial administration, were relegated to League Two.

Ablett left in June 2010 when the 2015 Group took ownership of the club.

Ablett had been fighting non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a form of blood cancer, for 16 months.

Last year, he gave his backing to Blue September, a campaign to raise awareness of forms of cancer specifically affecting men.

In an interview with the Everton website, he described the shock of being diagnosed.

"I thought it can't be me, it just can't," he said. "I felt so strong - I had played for the best two teams in the world, coached for the best two teams in the world. It can't be me. But unfortunately it was."

He added: "If you feel anything, you need to get it checked out. I've done it previously in the past when I had cancer in my toe.

"Get it checked, don't mess around. Don't ever think it can't be you because it could be. Cancer doesn't discriminate - it can attack anyone at any time."

Ablett's three main clubs - Liverpool, Everton and Birmingham - all carried tributes to their former player on their websites, offering their condolences to his family.

The League Managers' Association also recognised the former Stockport boss.

"Respected throughout the game by players, coaches and managers alike, Gary will be sadly missed," an LMA statement said.

Sad, tragic news. RIP Gary Ablett.

[Lineker]

Blackburn: Bunn, Lowe, Samba, Hanley, Henley, N'Zonzi, Formica, Dunn, Petrovic, Pedersen, Yakubu.

Subs: Kean, Morris, Givet, Vukcevic, Rochina, Blackman, Goodwillie.

Stoke: Sorensen, Woodgate, Shawcross, Huth, Wilson, Shotton, Whitehead, Whelan, Etherington, Crouch, Walters.

Subs: Begovic, Jones, Diao, Pennant, Upson, Delap, Jerome.

Referee: Lee Mason (Lancashire)

Aston Villa: Guzan, Cuellar, Collins, Dunne, Warnock, Ireland, Petrov, Clark, N'Zogbia, Agbonlahor, Bent.

Subs: Marshall, Hutton, Albrighton, Heskey, Bannan, Weimann, Gardner.

Swansea: Vorm, Rangel, Caulker, Williams, Taylor, Britton, Agustien, Orlandi, Dyer, Graham, Routledge.

Subs: Tremmel, Sinclair, Monk, Lita, Moore, Allen, Richards.

Referee: Anthony Taylor (Cheshire)

QPR: Kenny, Young, Ferdinand, Gabbidon, Hill, Derry, Faurlin, Barton, Taarabt, Mackie, Helguson.

Subs: Cerny, Orr, Campbell, Connolly, Hulse, Wright-Phillips, Macheda.

Norwich: Ruddy, Martin, Whitbread, Ayala, Drury, Bennett, Johnson, Lappin, Pilkington, Holt, Jackson.

Subs: Rudd, Morison, Surman, Hoolahan, Fox, Wilbraham, Naughton.

Referee: Neil Swarbrick (Lancashire)

Wolves: Hennessey, Stearman, Johnson, Berra, Ward, Forde, Frimpong, Henry, Hammill, Edwards, Doyle.

Subs: de Vries, Elokobi, Ebanks-Blake, Fletcher, Hunt, Jarvis, Foley.

Chelsea: Cech, Bosingwa, Luiz, Terry, Cole, Ramires, Romeu, Meireles, Lampard, Mata, Torres.

Subs: Turnbull, Lukaku, Ferreira, McEachran, Hutchinson, Bertrand, Chalobah.

Referee: Peter Walton (Northamptonshire)