Signed:
From Everton in February 1998 for £5.9m |
Debut:
7th February 1998 Vs West Ham United (h) in
a 1-0 Premiership defeat |
First Goal:
8th March 1998 Vs Barnsley (h) in a 3-1 Leagu Cup win |
| Total
Appearances: 284 including substitue appeareances
(all competitions) |
Total Goals Scored:
40 goals in all competitions |
Last
NUFC Game:
15th May 2004 Vs Liverpool (a) in a 1-1 Premeirship draw |
Last NUFC Goal:
14th April 2004 Vs PSV (h) in a 2-1 UEFA Cup Quarter-Final
Second Leg win - Speed's goal sent us into the Semi |
|
Yesterday,
for me, was a sad sad day as a supporter of NUFC - the transfer
of Gary Speed to Bolton Wanderers. Ever since Kenny Dalglish
splashed out £5.9m to bring the Welsh midfield-general
to Newcastle, Speed has remained a huge favourite of yours truly.
Put out wide on the left when he first joined, his poor performances
in an alien position soon had the boo boys on his back but that
didn't stop him knuckling down, settling in and getting on with
it.
When Bobby took over from Ruud Gullit his job in saving us from
relegation (his words not mine), was made easier by the fact
that Gary Speed had knocked in a fair few goals.
It was then that Speed had fully arrived at the club - scoring
13 goals in all competitions that Season and firmly establishing
himself as one of the senior pros, as an integral player.
As Bobby strived to return us to the top end of the Premiership
he needed a defensive midfielder to help stem the tide of goals
that we shipped in. He had no money to splash out on such a
player so he converted Speed to that role and although at first
he looked like a fish out of water, but just like when the boo
boys were on his back, he soon knuckled down, settled into the
role and got on with the duties he was handed - putting in excellent
performances as we grew from strength to strength with a 4th
spot finish followed by a 3rd spot finish - with some great
European nights thrown in to the bargain. Speed played a pivotal
part in this meteoric rise with his high level of performances
on a consistent basis.
It went pair-shaped last Season however and when we needed leaders
and men amongst the boys, we didn't have many but we had the
one man we could count on, the one man who never gave up when
quite a few around him did, the one man who cajoled, protected
and held things together. Alan Shearer is our club Captain but
our real Captain, our leader, was Gary Speed last Season. Ask
Hugo Viana!
Viana has had a hard time of it at Newcastle and it was Speed
who kept his chin up and Speed alone. He picked him up when
he was down, offered him advice, publicly stuck up for him and
acted like a father figure, a mentor for Viana to learn from.
And what a great player to learn from, vastly experienced, great
trainer and a great professional on and off the field. Viana
will become a better person and player for it I'm sure.
That type of player is needed at every club. But now we no longer
have this player...
The biggest compliment I or anyone could hope to pay Speed is
that another Premiership manager valued his 34 year old body
at £750,000, £750,000 more than what Patrick Kluivert
will cost us in a transfer fee, but £750,000 is peanuts
for a player of Speed's quality and professionalism, as one
Bolton fan pointed out in an e-mail to Newcastle-Online.
Jack T, a Bolton fan wrote in:
"Can
I just say how absolutely delighted I am with your club in accepting
our bid for GS and how delighted I am that he will be wearing
my team's shirt this season. He is everything we lacked last
season and with GS in midfield this can only help Jay-Jay and
KN to do their stuff. He brings with him experience and leadership
skills and will prove to be a real bargain. We get laughed at
for our loan signings and how old our players are but GS is
exactly what we need - a real coup from Big Sam, the most underrated
manager in football."
Our loss - Bolton's gain. I applaud bringing in £750,000
for a 34 year old, it's a great piece of business from a money
perspective, but I'm devastated that Speed is no longer a Newcastle
United player and judging from the pictures of him at the Airport
so is he. If we bring in a similar player in style but with
fresher legs we'll hardly notice his absence on the pitch next
Season but we will notice his absence at and around the club
- and in the dressing room, the players will, certainly.
Speed was probably the most respected player at the club, he's
a players player and he was always offering advice and encouragement,
especially to the younger players. Him leaving will create a
void. He was a father-figure to the young players and Viana
especially, thinks the world of him.
And so do I, he's the consummate professional who must be a
managers dream and I find it sad that his last moment with a
club that he has served magnificently was to throw a plastic
medal into an empty stadium thousands of miles away from the
Toon, a cheap medal for 7 years great service. Speed deserved
a true medal for his time at the Toon but that wasn't to be
the case. What also makes me sad is the fact that he was often
the scapegoat and often blamed for our failings in the stands.
I feel sad knowing the stick he had to put up with over the
years from the boo boys, yet he never moaned about it or even
mentioned it - he just got on with it as he always has done.
When he made his 400th Premiership appearance, the record, against
Leicester at St. James' Park - Sir Les got a bigger reception
when he scored a goal past Shay...shocking really.
For me, he has without doubt been one of our best players over
the past 10 years and alongside Shay & Big Al we would have
been knacked without him. Running this site for the past 7 months
has allowed me to cover Speed's comments to the media and in
almost all of his after-match or pre-match comments he talked
about his fellow players and not himself. If he had a bad game
he admitted it and held his hands up, if he had a great game
he shunned the praise and whenever Bobby had come in for some
flack he had always jumped in by insisting the blame lied at
the players feet and not the manager's.
At 34 years of age and lacking the skills that some of his fellow
team-mates undoubtedly posses, Speed put most to shame last
season and for the majority of it carried Jenas, filled in for
Robert and Bernard and generally held things together all on
his own. I will never forget the mournful look on his face away
to Marseille. Pitched alongside Viana, a player he took under
his wing, he found himself doing two shifts once again as Hugo
went missing just like Jenas and others who took the piss out
of Speed's dedication and commitment to the shirt have done
so over the years. But again he didn't moan, in fact he defended
Viana the following day.
Typical Speed...
Newcastle supporters aren't the only ones who owe Speed our
thanks and gratitude.
And on that note, Speed your are a NUFC hero and a true great
of the game, one of Newcastle's best ever players. Good luck
and thank you so much for your efforts, professionalism and
those wonderful moments in a Black & White shirt. You are
appreciated more than you probably realise and you won't be
forgotten.
You have deserved what's coming to you on the 26th of February,
we look forward to seeing you again.
Click
here to read Gary Speed appreciation messages from the Toon
Army! |
