Magpies and Canaries

Yer actual Keith Telly Topping's beloved (though, still unsellable) Magpies got back to victorious away after a four-game spell without a win as Papiss Demba Cissé's sublime first-half finish sunk Norwich City and revived Newcastle's push for a European place. Cissé superbly turned Jonás Gutiérrez's cross into the top corner from twelve yards. Cissé and strike partner Demba Ba were then denied several times by excellent John Ruddy saves as the Magpies dominated the early exchanges. However, Newcastle, who started with Gutiérrez at left-back and James Perch protecting the back four in the absence of Davide Santon and Cheick Tioté, did not have things all their own way. Norwich rallied and enjoyed good spells either side of the break. But, their best chances were thwarted by the excellent Tim Krul who tipped over a goalbound Zak Whitbread header and blocked a shot from Anthony Pilkington. United finished the stronger and, although it was far from their best performance of the season they never really looked in too much danger of surrendering their lead. The win kept United in sixth place in the Premiership, five points ahead of seventh placed Liverpool. Elsewhere on Sunday, the football world once again displayed a surprisingly capacity for yer actual humanity - something too often unrecognised by critics of the sport - with fans across the country demonstrating their solidarity with Bolton's Fabrice Muamba who remains in a critical condition in intensive care after suffering a heart-attack during the FA tie against Tottenham Hotshots on Saturday. There were rounds of applause from supporters at St James' Park, Stamford Bridge (where Chelsea were playing Leicester), Anfield (where Liverpool played Stoke) and Molineux (where poor ten-man Wolves got a right good trousers-down hiding off The Scum). Former Bolton defender Gary Cahill scored the opening goal in Chelsea's FA Cup quarter-final against Leicester and revealed a T-shirt with the message: 'Pray 4 Muamba.' Bolton's next scheduled match, against Aston Villa on Tuesday, has been postponed. Villa boss Alex McLeish also worked with Muamba at Birmingham. 'He is a manager's dream in terms of his commitment to the team,' said McLeish. 'The massive response throughout Europe and the world of football underlines how everybody has been touched by this tragic development and I pray that Fabrice is able to pull through.' Meanwhile, it is being reported by several national newspapers that a man has been arrested after allegedly making racist remarks relating to Muamba. The Scum Mail on Sunday claimed that a twenty one-year-old from Pontypridd 'aired his disparaging views on Twitter in the wake of the midfielder's tragedy.' Not having read the comments in question - which I'm rather glad about - the blogger is being very careful about how he phases the next paragraph. If - and I repeat if - any odious fraction of an individual is found guilty of making such comments (about Muamba or anyone else for that matter), is it too much to hope that they die, in agony, from cancer of the genitals? Possibly, it is. But, it'd also be fitting.

Fabrice Muamba

Bolton Wanderers midfielder Fabrice Muamba is critically ill this evening after collapsing during the FA Cup fifth-round tie against Tottenham. The twenty three-year-old is being treated in the intensive care unit of the heart attack centre at the London Chest Hospital. Medics spent ten minutes trying to resuscitate him on the field after he fell to the ground with no other players around him. The score was 1-1 when the match was abandoned after forty one minutes. 'Bolton Wanderers can confirm that Fabrice Muamba has been admitted to The Heart Attack Centre at The London Chest Hospital where he is in a critically ill condition in intensive care,' said a joint statement from Bolton and the hospital released at half past nine on Saturday night. 'No further information will be issued at this stage. The club and hospital request that the media and public respect the family's privacy at this time.' Medical staff gave the former England Under-21 international mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and tried to revive him with a defibrillator. In total six medics were treating the player. Both sets of supporters chanted Muamba's name as he was taken off the pitch on a stretcher. ESPN, who were broadcasting the match, reported that he was not breathing as he was taken into the tunnel. Referee Howard Webb called the visibly shaken players off the field after consulting with Bolton manager Owen Coyle and Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp. Minutes later the match was abandoned. The former Arsenal midfielder was accompanied in the ambulance by Coyle and club captain Kevin Davies. BBC Radio 5Live's chief football reporter Dennis, who was covering the game at White Hart Lane, witnessed medics rushing to aid Muamba. 'When the medical staff arrived his face was on the turf,' he said. 'You could see them using a defibrillator and he was [electronically] charged on at least two occasions. Everyone could see Fabrice Muamba was fighting for his life. If he does pull through it will be down to the quick actions of the medics.' Soon after the incident, messages of support flooded in for the former Birmingham City and Arsenal player. Spurs' Rafael van der Vaart was one of those on the pitch when Muamba collapsed. He tweeted: 'Terrible what happened with Muamba during the game. We're all praying for him.' England international Jack Wilshere, who played with Muamba at Bolton, wrote: 'Hope Muamba is okay. Thoughts with him.' Middlesbrough defender Justin Hoyte, who played in the Arsenal youth team with Muamba, said: 'I seriously hope my best friend in football is okay. Stay strong bro, please please stay strong. God is with you remember that.' The Professional Footballers' Association chief executive Gordon Taylor said it was 'a terrible thing to see for all the football family. This can happen on a pitch and [it is] one of the reasons why we insist all youngsters coming into the game have the ability to have heart screenings to avoid this happening,' he said. FA chairman David Bernstein said their thoughts and prayers were with Muamba and his family. 'Fabrice has played thirty three times for England Under-21s, captaining Stuart Pearce's side during this time and is a player, and more importantly, a person we care greatly for,' he said. 'We are in contact with Bolton Wanderers over Fabrice's condition and are awaiting updates.' Muamba joined Wanderers from Birmingham in 2008 and has made almost one hundred and fifty appearances for the club. Born on 6 April 1988 in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, was granted asylum status in Britain in 1994 at the age of eleven, rejoining his father who had been forced to flee his homeland on political grounds. He progressed through Arsenal's youth academy, representing England at every level from under-16 to under-21. It was unclear what caused the Bolton player to fall down in the forty second minute with the score 1-1, but it was clear immediately that he was in obvious distress. Players and staff immediately realised the seriousness of the situation, with Tottenham's players gesturing frantically for the paramedics to come on. Muamba lost consciousness and several attempts were made to resuscitate him on the pitch using CPR. Bolton's manager, Owen Coyle, shouted: 'He's just collapsed,' before running across to join the paramedics and looked on as the medical team struggled to revive his stricken player. As we said when Gary Speed's shockingly untimely death was announced late last year, it's at times like this it's brought home to everyone that football, great game that it is, is still ultimately just a game.

Singin' The Blues

Andre Villas-Boas has got the old tin-tack by Moscow Chelski Chelsea FC after less than a year in charge at Torpedo Stamford Bridge. This less than three hours after the best football journalist in the world, Henry Winter on the Torygraph, confidentially predicted that he wouldn't be chucked out into the gutter with all the other turds just yet on Sky Sports' Soccer Supplement. Nice goin' Henry, what do you do for an encore? Chelsea's decision comes on the back of Saturday's 1-0 defeat by West Bromwich Albino and a run of just three Premier League wins in their last twelve games. The thirty four-year-old Portuguese only took over as manager in June 2011. Former Chelsea midfielder Roberto di Matteo has been put in charge as first-team coach on an interim basis until the end of the season.

Meanwhile, in the only - properly - important football news of the day, Newcastle United's substitute Big Shola Ameobi rescued a dramatic point for The Toon in a bad-tempered derby with the ten-man Mackem Filth at St James' Park. Which was nice. Nicklas Bendtner's penalty, after Mike Williamson needlessly fouled Michael Turner, had put the Black Cats ahead in a blood-and-thunder first-half that saw six players booked. Blunderland were then forced to play for more than half-an-hour with ten men after Stéphane Sessègnon stupidly lashed out at Cheik Tioté elbowing him in the chest. Yer actual Keith Telly Topping's beloved (though, still, unsellable) Magpies dominated the second-half, with Demba Ba hitting the bar and then, later, having a penalty saved by Simon Mignolet. They looked to be running out of time until yer actual Shola poked home from close range. It was Big Shola's seventh goal in Tyne-Wear derbies against The Great Unwashed, only the legendary Jackie Milburn having scored more. After the final whistle the Mackems' captain, nasty little shin-kicker Lee Cattermole, was shown the red card for whinging at the referee over some perceived sleight or other. Or maybe, like most sensible people, Mike Dean just doesn't like him very much. Earlier thuggish, oafish bonehead Cattermole had set the tone for much of what was to follow when he was booked inside a minute of the game starting for a ghastly late, two-footed tackle on Tioté which left Newcastle's Ivorian enforcer in a crumpled heap on the floor. Alan Pardew's men pushed hard for an equaliser in the second-half but blew a golden opportunity when Fraizer Campbell gifted Newcastle a penalty of their own for a foul on Ameobi. Demba Ba missed from the spot after eighty three minutes, only for Shola to spare his blushes in stoppage time. Mingolet, who had made several fine saves during the match (particularly one from Hatem Ben Arfa) was also on hand to stop Williamson from winning it for United with virtually the last kick of the game. Former Newcastle and Sunderland midfielder Lee Clark said on BBC Radio 5Live: 'I think both sets of fans can be proud of what their teams have done. Ameobi has come up with the goods again in a North East derby, but Sunderland had to work very hard in the second half after they were let down by Sessègnon.'

Brazilians Not Spending Millions

Brazil says that it will 'no longer deal' with the secretary-general of football's world governing body, FIFA, following his 'unacceptable' comments about preparations for the 2014 World Cup. Sports Minister Aldo Rebelo insisted FIFA appoint someone else to work with Brazil on the competition. Jerome Valcke had said Brazil needed 'a kick up the backside.' He said THAT the country appeared to be more concerned with winning the World Cup than organising it. Valcke responded to the sports minister's snub by calling the move 'puerile.' Rebelo branded Valcke's comments 'inappropriate' and said that Brazil would no longer welcome him to the country. Fine. Take the World Cup off them and let somebody else host it. Easy solution. 'In light of these statements, which are inadequate and unacceptable comments for any type of relationship, the Brazilian government is going to send a letter to Blatter telling him it no longer accepts Secretary-General Valcke as an interlocutor,' Rebelo said. Brazil would work with other local FIFA organisers but not Valcke, who Rebelo said had contradicted comments FIFA itself had made after a visit in January. 'The secretary-general made an evaluation that does not correspond to the facts or the reality,' Rebelo added. Valcke had said during a visit to London: 'I don't understand why things are not moving. the concern is that nothing is made or prepared to receive so many people, because the world wants to go to Brazil. I am sorry to say but things are not working in Brazil.' The FIFA secretary general also expressed frustration at delays in approving a law setting out the regulatory framework for the World Cup. The World Cup bill - currently being considered by the Brazilian Congress - would lift a ban on alcohol sales in stadiums and limit discount ticket sales to students and pensioners. But it has been opposed by lawmakers who say THAT it gives Fifa too much power, as well as those who are against alcohol sales in stadiums on health and safety grounds. Speaking on Saturday, Valcke said: 'If [I'm] the problem because nothing has happened over the five years because I made, wow, one comment saying things are not working well and I for once said exactly what is happening in Brazil - if the result is they don't want to talk to me any more, I'm not the guy they want to work with, that's a bit puerile.' The Brazilian government has always said it is determined to deliver a successful World Cup as well as a lasting legacy. It is investing billions of dollars in building new stadiums and renovating old ones, as well as in transport infrastructure such as roads and airports. The 2014 World Cup will be the first in South America since Argentina hosted the tournament in 1978, and the first in Brazil since 1950.

'Live Together In Perfect Harmony...'

Côte d'Ivoire coach Francois Zahoui has rejected Sheikh Yer Man City's request to play Yaya and Kolo Toure in Sunday's Manchester derby in the FA Cup. 'Clubs know the rules,' Zahoui told BBC Africa. 'I'm expecting them [the Toures] for the FIFA deadline.' Under FIFA rules, players can be called up two weeks before the start of the Africa Cup of Nations on 21 January. City had hoped the Toure brothers would be able to play against United before joining the Ivorian training camp. 'The national team in Côte d'Ivoire is led by people who are well educated and I was surprised that people in England think that we don't know the FIFA rules about dates,' Zahoui said, rather patronisingly. Zahoui has insisted they report for a meeting in Paris on Saturday before flying out with the rest of the squad to Abu Dhabi for a two-week training camp. 'Here, when we call-up the players, they are obliged to turn up at the date indicated by FIFA. So when we call them up we know that the clubs need to let them go.' Zahoui said he had travelled to England to discuss the matter with Sheikh Yer Man City boss Roberto Mancini and The Arse manager Arsene Wenger, who will lose Gervinho to the Côte d'Ivoire. Gervinho has made twenty four appearances for the La-Di-Dah Gunners this season since signing for ten and a half million smackers from Lille. 'I said to the managers, "Be careful because there's a great expectation here and we need our cohesion and we have our ten days together and we need a team spirit at our training camp,"' said Zahoui. 'Arsene Wenger was my coach [at Nancy in France] so we have a close, respectful relationship. But even with him I said that the head of the Ivorian federation won't mess about. Don't turn this into a stand-off. So our call-up day is 7 January. I hope and pray they respect this date and that there's not a conflict between clubs and the federation.' The Toure brothers are pivotal players for Sheikh Yer Man City and started the 3-0 Premier League victory over Liverpool on Tuesday. Yaya, whose powerful drives from midfield are a feature of City's attacking play, scored the winner in both the FA Cup semi-final and final last season, and has six goals in his last thirteen games. Kolo has displaced Joleon Lescott at the heart of City's defence since returning from a six-month ban for failing a drugs test. Mancini, whose side host The Scum in a third-round clash on Sunday, said the absence of both players will leave City stretched. Gareth Barry is suspended, fellow midfielder Owen Hargreaves is not considered fit enough, while striker Mario Balotelli is troubled by an ankle injury. 'We have seventeen players,' whinged Mancini. 'I do not know how it is going to work. I always said we could have a problem in January. In midfield, we have a big problem. On Sunday, we only have James Milner and Nigel de Jong available.' Well, you've got one of the richest men on the planet for an owner, mate, get him to put his hand in his pocket. Zahoui's tough stance will also affect yer actual Keith Telly Topping's beloved Newcastle midfielder Cheick Tiote and Moscow Chelski FC forwards Didier Drobga and Salomon Kalou, who will all miss FA Cup third-round ties this weekend. Tiote has been central to The Magpies impressive Premier League season - they're currently in seventh place with thirty three points from twenty games - starring in the hugely satisfying 3-0 victory over The Scum on Wednesday night. The Magpies are also losing in-form Demba Ba to Senegal. Drogba and Kalou have scored nine goals between them for Moscow Chelski FC this season. The 2012 Africa Cup of Nations includes sixteen teams competing in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea between 21 January and 12 February.

So There Is A God, It Would Seem!

Manchester United's title challenge suffered yet another blow after The Scum were, very satisfyingly, swept aside by yer actual Keith Telly Topping's beloved (though, still unsellable) Magpies at a windswept St James Park on Wednesday evening. The visitors, who lost to Blackburn Vindaloos on New Year's Eve, went behind before the break when Demba Ba hooked in his fifteenth goal of the season from Shola Amoebi's flick-on. Yohan Cabaye doubled Newcastle's lead with a screaming thirty-yard free-kick before Phil Jones - amusingly - diverted in a late own goal via his knee.

Up For The Cup?

Arch rivals Sheikh Yer Man City FC and The Scum will face each other in the tie of the FA Cup third round in January. The Scum will make the short trip across Manchester to the Etihad Stadium looking to avenge October's 6-1 drubbing at the hands of City. Elsewhere, The Arse meet Dirty Leeds, Bristol Rovers will host Aston Villains whilst in-form Stottingtot Hotshots face the might of Cheltenham Town. Non-league Tamworth are rewarded for reaching the third round by having to travel to Everton, Wrexham face Brighton and Fleetwood will play Blackpool if they beat Yeovil in a second round replay. The clash of the Manchester giants is the obvious stand out tie of the draw - with the teams currently sitting first and second, respectively in the Premier League. The neighbours met in the FA Cup semi-finals last season at Wembley with Roberto Mancini's side winning 1-0 to reach their first final in thirty years. They triumphed 1-0 against Stoke. The clubs have only met once in the FA Cup at Manchester City's home ground - back in 1954-55 when City won 2-0. The tie was one of only two all-Premier League affairs to emerge from Sunday's draw, with yer actual Keith Telly Topping's beloved Magpies hosting Blackburn Rovers in the other at St James Park. Or, whatever Ashley and his chimp are calling it that particular week. Moscow Chelski FC's manager Andre Villas-Boas's first taste of the FA Cup will come at home to Championship side Portsmouth, who won the FA Cup in 2008. Martin O'Neill's first FA Cup tie in charge of relegation-haunted Blunderland will come at another Championship club Peterborough, while Stoke's manager Tony Pulis returns to one of his former clubs, League Two Gillingham. Peterborough director of football Barry Fry said: 'I am absolutely delighted, it is a great draw. It should be a sell-out and with Martin O'Neill going there it gives us half a chance of being on TV.' The Thieving Scouse Schleps must await the outcome of the second-round replay between Southend and Oldham to discover their opponents. Neil Warnock's Queen's Park Strangers face a tricky-looking visit to Milton Keynes where the Dons are pushing for a promotion to the Championship next season. Blue Square Bet Premier Tamworth will be happy with a lucrative trip to Premier League Everton while Wrexham's reward for a stunning 1-0 win at League One Brentford is a tie against Brighton & Hove Albino. Nottingham Forest will host Leicester in a no-love-lost East Midlands derby and Birmingham and Wolverhampton Wanderlust meet at St Andrew's in an equally-no-love-lost West Midlands derby. Derby, meanwhile, play Crystal Palace. Which isn't an anything derby. There is definitely one all-London tie after Poor Bloody Fulham Haven't Got A Chance and Charlton Not-Very-Athletic were paired together. Notlob face the winners of the Chelmsford versus Macclesfield tie.

Sócrates

Further sad news for the world of football. The former Brazil captain Sócrates has died at the age of fifty seven. He had been in a critical condition with an intestinal infection since being admitted to hospital on Friday in São Paulo. He, his wife and a friend were all reportedly taken ill after eating stroganoff last week, but his body was too frail to cope, having recently recovered from illness and he suffered septic shock which claimed his life in the early hours of Sunday morning. Sócrates, who was widely regarded as one of the greatest goalscoring midfielders ever to play the game, was moved onto life support on Saturday. He played in two World Cups, winning sixty caps for his country between 1979 and 1986 - many as captain - and scored twenty two goals. At six foot four he was known for his physical strength combined with a silky elegance on the ball for such a big man, as well as two-footed vision, a powerful shot and more tricks than Derren Brown. There have, frankly, been few better box-to-box playmakers in the history of the game. Easily recognisable for his beard and headband, he became the 'symbol of cool for a whole generation of football supporters,' according to the journalist Jonathan Jurejko. He looked more like a rock star than a footballer, with a towering awkward frame, straggly hair - and, of course, the instantly recognisable beard. The 1980s image of Sócrates is still plastered across retro T-shirts today, just like his hero Che Guevara, and his affect on a generation of football fans who fell in love with the Samba Boys of '82 is almost as revolutionary. His style of play was unmistakable; elegant and effortless almost to the point of nonchalance, and with a penchant for the back-heel that prompted Pelé to once remark that Sócrates played better going backwards than most footballers were going forward. Sócrates played for Botafogo and Corinthians in Brazil before an unhappy one-season spell in Italy at Fiorentina. He then saw out his career with Flamengo and Santos before retiring in 1989 at the age of thirty five. The first child of a self-educated intellectual father, a lover of the classics who named three of his sons after Greek philosophers, Sócrates was born in 1954 in Belém, the city on the banks of the Amazon estuary and capital of the North Brazilian state of Pará. Sócrates Brasileiro Sampaio de Souza Vieira de Oliveira came to football relatively late, having trained as a medical student until he was nineteen. Nicknamed 'The Doctor', Sócrates subsequently continued his studies whilst playing for Botafogo Futebol Clube and became a doctor of medicine, a rare achievement for a professional footballer (he was a graduate of the Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto). After retiring as a player in the late 1980s he practised medicine at Ribeirao Preto. In his early playing days he was notably unwilling to join in the wild celebrations of his team-mates when he scored a goal (of which there were one hundred and seventy two over the course of two hundred and ninety seven matches. He would have played many more but missed two whole seasons in 1978 and 1979 whilst completing his doctorate); so much so that the fans complained to the club president considering this aloofness as a sign of a lack of passion. The president, in turn, begged Sócrates to be more demonstrative and Sócrates obliged, in future, with parodic celebrations, kneeling on the ground, throwing up his arms and invoking success from whatever Gods there might be. A deeply intelligent man he was also a talented musician, playing trumpet in a salsa band, and was politically active. During his time at Corinthians he co-founded the Corinthians Democracy Movement, in opposition to the then-ruling right-wing military dictatorship in Brazil. Sócrates and his team mates protested against the regime's treatment of footballers, and showed support to the wider movement for democratisation, by wearing shirts with 'Democracia!' written on them during games. Sócrates stated in several interviews that his childhood heroes were Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and John Lennon. As if that wasn't cool enough for a footballer, he was also a heavy drinker and smoker - notoriously, being a forty-a-day man at the very time when he was captaining the 1982 Brazil side, one of the greatest teams never to win the world cup. That second group stage defeat to Italy is still the stuff of nightmares for lovers of the The Beautiful Game the world over. Just like Hungary in 1954 and the Netherlands in 1974, here was a team blessed with, quite literally, all the talents, except for the ability to win the biggest prize of all. Ironically, his younger brother, Raí was a member of the Brazil squad which did win the World Cup in 1994. Sócrates would later note: 'Titles are ephemeral. What matters in football is the passion, regardless of conquests.' He set up a sporting medicine clinic in Ribeirão Preto where he lived with his wife and six children. He was a columnist for a number of newspapers and magazines, writing not only about sports, but also medicine, politics and economics. He frequently appeared on Brazilian TV programmes as a football pundit. At the time of his death, Sócrates was writing a speculative novel about the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. In 2004, aged fifty, Sócrates made an appearance as a substitute for Garforth Town in the Northern Counties League after a one-off deal to become player-coach. He was taken to the Albert Einstein Hospital in São Paulo with food poisoning on Friday, according to his wife. A hospital statement said on Saturday that the former footballer was 'in a critical condition due to a septic shock of intestinal origin.' Previously, Sócrates was taken to hospital twice in August and September this year with bleeding in his digestive tract. After these incidents he admitted that he had problems with alcohol, especially so during his playing career. In a recent television interview, Sócrates said he that had considered alcohol his 'companion' but believed its regular use had never affected his performance on the field. 'Alcohol did not affect my career, in part because I never had the physical build to play this game,' he said. 'Soccer became my profession only when I was already twenty four. I was too thin and when I was young I did not have the opportunity to prepare myself physically for the sport.' Football fans will prefer to remember those balmy nights in Spain in June 1982. And that goal against the USSR. Two body-swerves and a thunderous drive that almost burst the net. Magic.

Gary Speed

Some appalling sad news broke over Sunday lunchtime. The Wales football manager, Gary Speed, has tragically died - an apparent victim of suicide - at the age of forty two. Speed had appeared on BBC1's Football Focus show on Saturday afternoon, just hours before his death and seemed in great spirits. He joked that he thought one of his former clubs, Newcastle United, had a good chance of getting something from their visit to Old Trafford that afternoon. This was, he noted, in marked contrast to his own period playing for the Magpies when they had a shocking record against Manchester United. The presenter, Dan Walker, said that off-camera at the BBC's studios in Salford, Gary had talked enthusiastically about how well his sons were developing as teenage footballers and about his desire to come back on the show before Christmas. He also recorded a separate interview about his high hopes for Wales' forthcoming World Cup qualifying campaign. After the show ended, at 1pm, he met up with Match of the Day pundits Alan Shearer - a close friend with whom Speed had played for six years at Newcastle - and Mark Lawrenson to watch the early Premier League game between Stoke City and Blackburn Rovers. Then, just before 3pm, he made the short journey to Old Trafford to watch Newcastle draw with Manchester United. The match finished shortly before 5pm and it is thought Speed travelled back to his home in Chester where, little more than twelve hours later, he was found dead. As news of the tragedy spread, the world of football queued up to pay tribute to Speed. His death was confirmed in a statement by the Football Association of Wales. The statement said: 'We extend our sympathies and condolences to the family. We ask that everyone respects the family's privacy at this very sad time.' A spokeswoman for Cheshire Police said: 'At 7.08am today, Cheshire Police was informed of a sudden death at an address in Huntington, Chester. Officers went to the scene where a forty two-year-old man was found dead. The next of kin have been informed and have confirmed the identity of the man as Gary Speed. There are no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death. The family have requested that they are left in peace to grieve at this difficult time. A family tribute will be released at a later date, but not today.' Speed had taken over the Wales job in December 2010, and after some early disappointments, performances and results had begun to rapidly improve. He said earlier this month that the side's improvement had exceeded all of his expectations. A 4-1 friendly win over Norway represented a third successive victory for Wales, and Speed's fifth win in ten games in charge - seeing his country rise in the FIFA rankings by over fifty places in just nine months. He noted: 'We've progressed further than I'd have thought in this space of time but we've still got a lot of work to do.' Speed won eighty five caps playing for his country during a fourteen-year international career. A national hero, he was given the top job in Welsh football despite only having four months managerial experience with Sheffield United. His former Wales team-mate Ryan Giggs said: 'I am totally devastated. Gary Speed was one of the nicest men in football and someone I am honoured to call a team-mate and friend. It goes without saying my thoughts are with his family at this tremendously sad time.' The Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish, who had signed Speed for Newcastle in 1998, released forward Craig Bellamy from his squad for Sunday's match against Manchester City, saying that Bellamy 'was very, very close to Gary.' Another former Wales team-mate, Robbie Savage, tweeted: 'The world has lost a great man in Gary Speed. I'm devastated. Spoke to him yesterday morning. I'll miss him so much. He came to watch Strictly three-to-four weeks ago. I high-fived him in the front row. He loved the show, he loved life, he loved his family. Devastated.' Alan Shearer said: 'Gary was a magnificent person, bright, fun and a wonderful family man - he lit up every room he walked into. I am proud to have been his friend and will miss him dreadfully.' Former Wales international John Hartson was due to work on the BBC's radio commentary of Swansea versus Aston Villa but was too upset to cover the game. A superb left-sided attacking midfielder, Speed had a glorious twenty year career as a player, mostly at the very top level of the English game. He played professionally for Leeds United, Everton, Newcastle United, Bolton Wanderers and Sheffield United between 1988 and 2009. Rarely troubled by injury - until late in his career - or suspension, Gary held the record for the most appearances in the FA Premier League at five hundred and thirty five, until it was surpassed by David James in 2009. (He's still third on the all-time list behind James and Ryan Giggs.) Born in Mancot, Flintshire in 1969, Gary began his career with Leeds United as a teenage protege, making his league debut when he was aged nineteen. He went on to play a key role as Leeds won promotion from the old Second Division in 1990 during his first full season and, then, as the club took the last ever First Division championship title in 1992 as part of a midfield which also comprised Gordon Strachan, Gary McAllister and David Batty. Fast, mobile, direct, hugely skillful and with keen eye for goal, Speed also featured in Leeds's League Cup final defeat against Aston Villa in 1996. The flags at Leeds United's Elland Road ground were lowered to half-mast and fans laid tributes of shirts and scarves. The club said it was 'stunned and saddened.' Howard Wilkinson, Speed's manager at Leeds, praised him as 'an ordinary, very honest, very genuine, very committed and hard-working bloke.' After three hundred and twelve appearances (fifty seven goals) for Yorkshiremen, he moved to Everton - the team whom he had supported as a boy - in 1996, for a fee of three and a half million pounds. His spell at Goodison Park was not a great success, although he was club captain and, probably, the best player in a rather underachieving Everton side of the period. After sixty five games (seventeen goals) he moved again, to Newcastle United, in February 1998. In his first couple of years at St James' Park, he struggled in another average middle-of-the-table side although the team did get to - and lose - two successive FA Cup finals in 1998 and 1999. But, the arrival of Bobby Robson as manager in 1999 revitalised Speed's career and he enjoyed a glorious Indian summer of three or four years playing some of the best football of his career. Along with the likes of Alan Shearer and Robert Lee he was one of the older heads in Robson's exciting young Newcastle side. He was very much a Robson-type player, the former England manager once describing Speed as 'brave as a lion.' Robson converted Gary into a holding midfielder and, even though his pace was starting to go by then, his vision and tactical awareness helped to bring the best out of many of the youngsters he played with - particularly Craig Bellamy, Nobby Solano, Kieron Dyer and Steven Taylor. Taylor, who came into the first team at St James' Park when Speed was one of the club's senior professionals, expressed his gratitude for the help Gary had given him. 'He helped me through, he was an absolute machine - the best professional in football. He had that aura about him. He always had time for the young lads and helped them feel good about themselves.' After the news of his death broke, Newcastle released a statement expressing their condolences, in which they described Gary as, 'an excellent servant to the club, the ultimate professional, and an exceptional role-model for younger players.' By the time he left the Magpies - many felt he was sold a season or two too early - for Bolton in 2004, he'd played two hundred and eight five times (forty goals) and had helped United back into Europe, including a memorable run in the Champions League in 2002-3. Gary signed for Bolton in a two-year, seven hundred and fifty thousand pound deal in July 2004. He had been capped for Wales eighty five times by this stage, second in the all-time list only to Neville Southall. He was handed his Wales debut as a twenty-year-old in the 1-0 friendly win over Costa Rica in May 1990. After captaining the country a record forty four times, he retired from international football in 2004 after the side's 3–2 defeat to Poland in a World Cup qualifier. He became the first player to make five hundred Premiership appearances when he played in Bolton's 4–0 victory over West Ham United in December 2006. In May the following year, he was named as the First Team coach for Bolton. However in October, he left the job. Conflicting reports of the incident claim then manager, Sammy Lee, relieved him of his duties so he could concentrate on playing. However Speed, in an interview with the Bolton News, claimed that he had chosen to step down himself. Four years at Bolton saw a further one hundred and thirty appearances (fourteen goals) before Gary finally dropped out of the Premier League and ended his career as player-coach at Sheffield United eventually retiring due to a persistent back injury just short of his fortieth birthday. With the 2010–11 season only three games old, United's manager Kevin Blackwell was sacked with Speed being confirmed as his replacement. However, on 11 December 2010, Speed was linked with the vacant Wales manager job and accepted the role as the new Welsh national team manager a week later, succeeding John Toshack who had stepped down in September 2010. Speed was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 2010 Birthday Honours. Gary's professionalism, dignity, intelligence and passion for that game made him one of football's good guys. This blogger's thoughts are with Gary's family, his wife - Louise - and their two young sons - Edward and Thomas - and his many, many friends in the game. One look at former Newcastle team-mate Shay Given, now playing for Aston Villa, in tears on the pitch at Swansea as a minute's silence turned, magnificently, into a minute's applause tells you everything you need to know about Gary Speed and what he meant to people. It's at times like this it's brought home to you that football, great game that it is, is ultimately just a game. Gary Speed. Legend.

But, the game goes on and we, however reluctantly, have to go on with it. Twenty four hours earlier, The Scum of Humanity were held by yer actual Keith Telly Topping's beloved Magpies in a pulsating match at Old Trafford on Saturday. Javier Hernandez gave United an early second-half lead after Wayne Rooney's volley ricocheted off Steven Taylor before then hitting the Mexican and trickling in. Newcastle drew level from a disputed penalty after Rio Ferdinand was adjudged to have fouled Hatem Ben Arfa with Demba Ba scoring from the spot-kick. Jonas Gutierrez was then sent off for a second bookable offence, Tim Krul made a string of great saves, Ashley Young hit the post, but the Magpies held on. The draw leaves the champions four points behind rivals Manchester City, who travel to Liverpool on Sunday. Newcastle fully deserved a point from a tremendous game after defending stoutly throughout. They were unlucky to go behind in the first place, but with Steven Taylor in particular outstanding in defence, they repulsed everything the home side threw at them afterwards, even when down to ten men for the last fifteen minutes. That Newcastle left Old Trafford with a point also had much to do with Krul's superb goalkeeping performance and the visitors' ability to throw bodies in the way of the ball in a frantic period after Gutierrez's dismissal. Krul somehow got his body in the way of Nemanja Vidic's fierce header while Danny Simpson typified Newcastle's resilience when he cleared a Hernandez effort off the line. At times in that thrilling conclusion, Krul's goal seemed to be protected by a brick wall keeping the ball out of his net as Ashley Young rattled the post with a shot, while a last-gasp Hernandez goal was ruled out after the Mexican strayed offside when he poked home Ryan Giggs's cross. In the opening half Alan Pardew's side had looked to attack at every opportunity with Ben Arfa and Gabriel Obertan effective in creating chances with their vision and touch - both from the centre of the pitch as well as the flanks. Ben Arfa produced the cutest of passes with the outside of his foot to scoop the ball over the United defence to Ba, whose volley tested David de Gea. A cross from Obertan, who was arguably the visitors most effective player in that first half, created Newcastle's best chance, but Ryan Taylor miscued with his volley. However, that Newcastle went in at the break level was primarily to do with Krul's reactions. Early on he saved twice from Hernandez before the Dutch international flung himself to his right to produce a fingertip save from the deftest of flicks from Giggs. Just before the break Newcastle were handed a reprieve when Hernandez miscued with a shot when he probably should have scored. Strangely prior to Saturday, Hernandez had not scored at Old Trafford this season, and he knew little about the goal that ended that run on forty nine minutes. Steven Taylor had fouled Hernandez to win a free-kick just outside the box and although the Newcastle wall blocked Rooney's set-piece shot the England striker was quickly onto the rebound. Rooney's volley went deep into the Newcastle area before ricocheting off Taylor and then off Hernandez into the net. It was a desperately unlucky way to go behind, but the visitors were soon to profit from a contentious penalty that was awarded when Ben Arfa went down after a Ferdinand tackle. Television replays appeared to show the United defender had won the ball reasonably cleanly but the referee, Mike Jones, after consultation with his assistant awarded the penalty. Ba coolly slotted in as De Gea went the wrong way. The Manchester United goalkeeper produced a wonderful save to parry a Fabrizio Coloccini effort, but once Gutierrez had been dismissed Newcastle had only the manpower to concentrate on defending their goal. There were still plenty more heroics to come though, and former Manchester United man Simpson topped them all with the most staggering of goal-line clearances, before Hernandez had his late strike ruled out for offside.

Relegation-haunted Sunderland boss Steve Bruce has insisted that he won't quit despite abuse from fans after a home defeat against Wigan. You're going to have to work harder, you Stadium of Lighters. Take the advice from one who knows. Chants of 'sack the manager' usually bring a, dreaded, vote of confidence. Chants of 'sack the board' usually result in the manager getting the tin-tack. Give it a shot and see if it works

About Bloody Time!

American Samoa's national football team - ranked as the worst international team in the world - has won a game for the first time in its history. The US protectorate managed a 2-1 victory over Tonga after thirty straight defeats coverage almost two decades. Reports said the players and coach of the Pacific nation celebrated as if they had won a major championship. Aw, bless 'em. In 2001 American Samoa infamously lost 31-0 to Australia in a World Cup qualifier - the heaviest defeat in international football history. American Samoa are joint bottom of world governing body FIFA's international rankings. Coach Thomas Rongen said the victory would now be 'part of soccer history. Maybe we have a chance to do something special here beyond this one game, but let's enjoy this one right now,' he said. American Samoa's last and only other win came in the 1983 South Pacific Games, where they beat Wallis and Futuna 3-0.