Season 2011-12 Fan Articles

Gary Speed ? The Final Piece of the Jigsaw

By Andrew   James  ::  29/11/2011   10 Comments (»Last) In 1996, I was 18 years of age. As a Blue based in the South, it was hard getting to games. I was only 6 when we moved down from the North West (terrible timing if you do the Maths!) so away matches or the telly was all I had. My parents divorce made it even harder as the only other Blue in close proximity was not around to pay for the tickets or drive us there! But by 1995 I had a weekend job and, courtesy of the scintillating 94-95 season, my younger brother had caught the bug.

The end of the next season, when we finished 6th narrowly behind Rioch?s Arsenal, was brilliant and Andrei Kanchelskis became a favourite. The Dogs of War were evolving into something more subtle and sophisticated. It got better that Summer as our big signing was Gary Speed, an Evertonian, a league winner, a Top Man model! My brother and I were excited. This signing, in my eyes, was the final piece of the jigsaw. Although I loved Anders Limpar on the left, he was clearly waning as a force. A midfield flanked by Speed and Kanchelskis supplying Graham Stuart and Big Dunc seemed like a dream combination especially as Joe Parkinson was being talked of as a future international in the middle of the park.

As part of my 18th birthday celebrations, my brother and I got tickets for a pre-season friendly against Brum at St Andrews. It was not a great game (but we didn?t care) and I remember thinking that Speed gave us a certain amount of balance previously lacking. He was clearly going to bring power and another aerial threat to our attack.

Very soon, we were hosting Newcastle United at Goodison Park. On hindsight, this game is fascinating. Alan Shearer had just moved to his boyhood club for a world record fee after a brilliant Euro 96. We share the same birthday so I have always had a soft spot for the great man. However, on this day, his debut was upstaged by Gary Speed, also making his debut.

Looking at the line-ups, the clubs shared a lot or would go on to do so. Speed would eventually join the Magpies and become big mates with Shearer, the man he upstaged that very day. Playing for the opposition were Peter Beardsley, David Ginola and Steve Watson, all players who have worn the blue. Plus David Batty was playing, the very man Speed had played next to when he won the league title with Leeds Utd.

In Blue on the 17th August 1996 was Duncan Ferguson who would, two seasons later, join up with Speed and Shearer, albeit for a short spell. In goal that day was the great Big Nev, the man who Speed did not overtake in all time appearances for Wales because he felt it would be disrespectful to keep playing just for the sake of caps and not in the best interests of the national team. Just about the only person missing was the recently departed Barry Horne, Speed?s room mate with Wales.

That season, we veered from bloody awful to brilliant. My brother and I watched us thrashed by Wimbledon in what has to be the most depressing game I have ever seen live. The signing of Nick Barmby seemed like a luxury purchase but, simultaneously, the jigsaw wasn?t complete. Something was clearly up with Kanchelskis (do you remember him scoring at Goodison and none of his team mates joining him?) We thrashed Southampton 7-1 and Speed scored a great hat-trick.

However, as the season progressed, Joe Royle?s naïve tactics, injuries to the usual suspects combined with Barmby being a disappointment but, because of his price tag, keeping the arguably more effective Stuart on the bench, meant we did not make the strides we should have. The nefarious Peter Johnson screwed the club over, Royle left, and suddenly we were in crisis.

0 Howard Kendall came in and made Speed the captain which shows what an important player he was. Indeed, he still performed well when other players like Kanchelskis, Ferguson or Barmby were not, for a variety of reasons. By the summer of 1997, we were a low-budget side, the signings of Kanchelskis and Speed had been made using funds we simply did not have. Kendall brought in a host of cheap signings like John Oster, Gareth Farrelly and John O?Kane. They were all punts and none of them paid off.

To worsen matters, Kendall fell foul of some very clever transfer dealings from Harry Redknapp. We sold arguably our best defender and penalty taker, David Unsworth, in exchange and plus cash for Danny Williamson. It seemed a strange deal at the time and showed up just how incompetent the club were when Williamson made no mark and we bought Rhino back a year later.

The 97-98 season was a disaster. By the Winter, it was clear that Speed was one of the few assets we had left. So, of course, Johnson sold him. We slid into a relegation battle and did a Houdini to escape it on the last day. It should have been easier but, when Barmby missed a penalty on the big day against Coventry, you could not help but think that Unsworth or Speed would have scored it. How we survived that day is still beyond me.

My Grandad, a season ticket holder for 50 years, died just before our slump. I?m sad that he died before that day against Coventry as opposed to after it. Gary Speed went on to have a great career, playing next to Alan Shearer and managed by Bobby Robson. When he left us, I lost faith with those in charge of our fantastic club. I never held any grudge against him.

Gary Speed?s goal return in Blue was better than anywhere else. He should have been the last piece of the jigsaw, thus enabling us to get into Europe regularly, win cups, and even be good enough to enjoy the Champions League party. None of that happened. Everton became synonymous with mediocrity until a certain David Moyes arrived... while Speed enjoyed a fulfilling career.

So sad that he is no more. For a short while, he was part of a team that looked like it might be very good.

Gary Speed, Everton Captain, Rest In Peace.

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