Gary Neville and Graeme Souness have paid tribute to Gary Speed's professional attitude to football.
Sky Sports pundits reflect on career of late Wales manager
Gary Neville described Gary Speed as a 'fantastic professional' after it was announced that the Wales manager had died at the age of 42.
The Football Association of Wales confirmed the death of the former Leeds, Everton, Newcastle, Bolton and Sheffield United player on Sunday morning.
As two of the Premier League's longest-serving players, Neville faced Speed on countless occasions and said he was always a tough opponent.
And he said his passing put many other things into context.
"It's absolutely devastating," Neville said on
Super Sunday.
"My career and his crossed paths many times. I played against him many times and he was a fantastic professional, someone who was a winner and had a great reputation as a professional.
"We think of football sometimes as being important, but it's not really."
Speed became Wales manager in 2010 and has been praised for the style and attitude he brought to the national team.
As a player, he made 535 appearances in the Premier League - only Ryan Giggs and David James have made more - and Neville said that consistency showed what a committed footballer he was.
"That's an absolutely incredible achievement," he continued.
"To keep coming back again year after year and do that is testament to his professionalism and his spirit.
"We watched the England v Wales game last year and the way he was trying to make Wales play was admirable. They were getting good results and it's absolutely devastating.
"Ryan Giggs liked him a lot. He's someone who was liked by everybody who played. I didn't know him personally, but everyone I knew that knew him couldn't say enough good words about him. He's someone that was very highly thought of.
"He invited Ryan down last year before the England game. Ryan had been part of the Wales squad for many years and he said the level of professionalism that had been instilled in that squad in the three or four days he'd trained with them was different than he'd seen in the previous 15 years.
"That's testament to the way he behaved during his career and the professionalism he carried throughout his career."
Longevity
Graeme Souness was also in the
Super Sunday studio shortly after the news broke and he said that Speed's longevity meant he could genuinely be described as a great player.
He said: "I can't say I knew Gary, but what I do know about him through Dean Saunders who roomed with him for years is that he was a consummate professional, a deep thinker and highly intelligent.
"He was a young man just starting off in his managerial career doing really well with Wales. It just puts everything into perspective and my thoughts are with his family.
"The genes were kind to him because he was an athlete. The fact he started so young and ended up playing so late tells you a couple of things about him. It tells you that he had a great attitude and every day was important to him.
"He turned up for work and trained properly, he was lucky with injuries - I can't really remember him getting a bad one.
"You can call someone a great player if they've played for so long and won things,
"Some people are called great players after one season, but for me if you play for such a long time, it shows your character. It shows you must be a good type, you're athletic and not short of ability.
"I think he could genuinely be called a great player because you factor in that longevity."
