It was another weekend of late goals but the whole weekend of football has been overshadowed by the sad death of Welsh team manager Gary Speed at the age of 42. There is little I can say about him given that I didn't know him and never saw him play a game live but just reading and listening to the tributes over this past couple of days has given a real insight.
Speed was very close to playing against Burnley. In December 2008 we travelled to Bramall Lane for a league game against Sheffield United and in the preview I wrote: "The big question mark for Kevin Blackwell is Gary Speed. He missed last week's game at Ipswich with a back injury and he faces a late fitness test."
He'd played in the previous home game against Wolves but that proved to be the last game in an illustrious career before. The back injury brought it to an end and he became part of the coaching team at Bramall Lane before replacing manager Blackwell in August 2010 and leaving just a few months later to take over from John Toshack as Wales boss.
He's brought about an upturn in fortunes for Wales in his short time in charge and there was a lot of confidence that there could be a bright future under his management. Those hopes ended yesterday with the sad news of his death.
I can do no more than join so many others in sending my condolences to his wife Louise, his sons Tommy and Eddie, his parents and his friends and family at this sad time and hope they can find the strength to come to terms with the events of yesterday.
Ahead of tomorrow night's game at Turf Moor the club will observe a minute's applause for Speed with the Burnley team including a former Sheffield United team mate in Keith Treacy as well as Sam Vokes, a member of the current Welsh squad.
That fixture is shown below, along with the remainder of the midweek fixtures along with the stats from last week's games.
The Week's Results | |
Tuesday 22nd November | |
Birmingham City 2 Burnley 1 | Coventry City 1 Cardiff City 1 |
Saturday 26th November | |
Blackpool 2 Birmingham City 2 | Hull City 2 Burnley 3 |
Brighton & Hove Albion 2 Coventry City 1 | Ipswich Town 2 Reading 3 |
Bristol City 2 Southampton 0 | Leeds United 1 Barnsley 2 |
Cardiff City 1 Nottingham Forest 0 | Peterborough United 1 Middlesbrough 1 |
Crystal Palace 0 Millwall 0 | Portsmouth 1 Leicester City 1 |
Doncaster Rovers 0 Watford 0 | West Ham United 3 Derby County 1 |
The Week's Stats | |
Biggest Win |
Bristol City 2-0 v Southampton (home) |
Total Goals Scored | 36 (20 home - 16 away) |
Player Scoring Most Goals 2 |
David Edgar (Burnley) Matty Fryatt (Hull City) |
Highest Attendance | 27,864 - West Ham United v Derby County |
Lowest Attendance | 7,650 - Doncaster Rovers v Watford |
Total Yellow Cards | 38 |
Total Red Cards | 1 |
Most Cards in a Game | Leeds United v Barnsley (6Y 1R) Ref: Geoff Salisbury |
Leading Goalscorers (League Only) | |
12 | Rickie Lambert (Southampton) - includes 5 penalties |
10 | Ross McCormack (Leeds United) |
8 | Charlie Austin (Burnley) Matty Fryatt (Hull City) Darius Henderson (Millwall) - includes 1 penalty Grant McCann (Peterborough United) - includes 2 penalties Chris Wood (Birmingham City) |
7 | Marvin Emnes (Middlesbrough) Lukas Jutkiewicz (Coventry City) - includes 1 penalty Nicky Maynard (Bristol City) Kevin Phillips (Blackpool) Pete Whittingham (Cardiff City) - includes 2 penalties |
6 | Michael Chopra (Ipswich Town) Carlton Cole (West Ham United) Guly Do Prado (Southampton) David Nugent (Leicester City) Jonjo Shelvey (Blackpool) - includes 1 penalty Paul Taylor (Peterborough United) |
Hat Tricks | |
Date | Player & Game |
20/08/11 | 3: Lee Tomlin - PETERBOROUGH UNITED v Ipswich Town |
10/09/11 | 3: Rickie Lambert - SOUTHAMPTON v Nottingham Forest |
11/09/11 | 3: Chris Wood - BIRMINGHAM CITY v Millwall |
12/10/11 | 3: Darius Henderson - Leicester City v MILLWALL |
02/11/11 | 3: Jonjo Shelvey - Leeds United v BLACKPOOL |
19/11/11 | 3: Rickie Lambert - SOUTHAMPTON v Brighton & Hove Albion |
Disciplinary Record (League and Cup) | |||||||||
Club | Y | R | Y | R | Club | Y | R | Y | R |
League | Total | League | Total | ||||||
Barnsley | 29 | 1 | 30 | 1 | Ipswich Town | 19 | 3 | 19 | 3 |
Birmingham City | 24 | 0 | 24 | 0 | Leeds United | 31 | 5 | 35 | 5 |
Blackpool | 26 | 0 | 27 | 1 | Leicester City | 28 | 3 | 32 | 3 |
Brighton and Hove Albion | 43 | 2 | 49 | 2 | Middlesbrough | 28 | 2 | 29 | 2 |
Bristol City | 27 | 0 | 28 | 0 | Millwall | 29 | 0 | 32 | 0 |
Burnley | 23 | 1 | 31 | 1 | Nottingham Forest | 25 | 1 | 28 | 1 |
Cardiff City | 21 | 0 | 29 | 0 | Peterborough United | 24 | 2 | 26 | 2 |
Coventry City | 21 | 2 | 22 | 2 | Portsmouth | 31 | 2 | 34 | 2 |
Crystal Palace | 22 | 0 | 24 | 0 | Reading | 23 | 0 | 25 | 0 |
Derby County | 26 | 1 | 26 | 1 | Southampton | 22 | 2 | 23 | 2 |
Doncaster Rovers | 28 | 0 | 28 | 0 | Watford | 24 | 0 | 25 | 0 |
Hull City | 32 | 0 | 32 | 0 | West Ham United | 27 | 1 | 27 | 2 |
Highest and Lowest Attendances | |||
Highest | Lowest | ||
Att | Fixture | Att | Fixture |
33,465 | West Ham United v Portsmouth (10/09) | 6,351 | Peterborough United v Cardiff City (18/10) |
33,010 | Derby County v Southampton (15/10) | 7,650 | Doncaster Rovers v Watford (26/11) |
32,150 | Southampton v West Ham United (18/10) | 7,778 | Doncaster Rovers v Bristol City (27/08) |
31,812 | Southampton v Brighton & Hove Albion (19/11) | 7,901 | Peterborough United v Burnley (17/09) |
31,448 | West Ham United v Blackpool (15/10) | 7,928 | Peterborough United v Ipswich Town (20/08) |
30,410 | West Ham United v Leicester City (29/10) | 8,426 | Doncaster Rovers v Coventry City (29/10) |
30,391 | Derby County v Hull City (19/11) | 8,500 | Peterborough Utd v Doncaster Rovers (01/10) |
29,895 | West Ham Utd v Peterborough Utd (24/09) | 8,685 | Peterborough United v Hull City (10/09) |
28,252 | West Ham United v Leeds United (21/08) | 8,900 | Barnsley v Bristol City (29/10) |
27,980 | West Ham United v Bristol City (01/11) | 9,362 | Doncaster Rovers v Crystal Palace (24/09) |
The Next Fixtures | |
Tuesday 29th November | |
Burnley v Ipswich Town | Nottingham Forest v Leeds United |
Derby County v Brighton & Hove Albion | Reading v Peterborough United (20:00) |
Leicester City v Blackpool | Southampton v Hull City |
Middlesbrough v West Ham Unied | Watford v Bristol City |
Millwall v Doncaster Rovers |