Some good points brought up the last few posts. Especially about the amount of pressure on players these days, as discussed the pressure from fans is more intense than ever and this goes alongside a level of scrutiny from the media which is higher than ever before too. Perfection is expected from top sports stars in their private lives these days as well as on the pitch. We obviously don't know where Speed's depression came from but it's definitely an illness which is sadly misunderstood and kind of taboo in society and even more so in football. If any good is to come from this tragic event hopefully it will make more people aware that people such as Gary Speed who appear to "have it all" can be suffering too. And this would hopefully make it easier for people suffering to seek help. In Germany there's been a foundation set up to help footballers with mental illnesses after the goalkeeper Robert Enke committed suicide in 2009. It's strange that before if someone asked what I'd feel when Gary Speed dies I couldn't imagine I would be so affected by it. But the manner in which it's happened and the fact that like millions of others I saw him live on tv only a few hours before have made the news really hit me. I actually knew someone (a little, was more a friend of my mum) who hung himself last year in very similar circumstances. Similar age, had a family, always appeared happy etc. Absolutely horrible thing for the family to go through. Which makes all the talk of the tabloid hacks sitting in wait just infuriating.