Wales coach Chris Coleman pays tribute to the late Gary Speed
Tuesday 27 November 2012 10:57, UK
Image:Welsh football and the wider sporting world was rocked by the news of Gary Speed's death
Wales coach Chris Coleman says Gary Speed will never be forgotten as football mourns the first anniversary of his death.
Emotions
Since Speed's death Wales have secured just one win, the World Cup qualifying defeat of Scotland last month.
And Coleman is more aware than most of the challenge his squad have faced in trying to get over the loss of their former manager.
He said: "I think people forget about the players. People just think they have to go out and get results. Of course, Gary's death was bound to have affected them.
"Players hold a lot of their emotions in. The dressing room is not the place where you show emotion.
"You hide everything. They will have dealt with it in their own time and space. It's been very hard for them and the players have handled it really well.
"You can't prepare for something like that because you don't think it will ever happen. When it happens it is a massive shock and surprise."
In a statement released on Tuesday, Football Association of Wales chief executive Jonathan Ford added: "We not only lost the National Team Manager, we also lost a friend and colleague.
"Our thoughts today, as they are every day, are with Gary's family - his wife Louise, sons Ed and Tom, his parents Roger and Carol and his sister Lesley."
