Olympic Torch Comes to Cardigan!

What a wonderful start to the week!

I've woken up this morning to hear that the Olympic Torch will be travelling through Cardigan town on it's tour of the UK, on the afternoon of Sunday May 27th!

Olympic Torch Route on Sunday, 27th May 2012

As the BBC website details here, it will travel from Swansea to Aberystwyth via Carmarthen, Haverfordwest, Fishguard and Newport before arriving in Cardigan en-route towards its overnight destination in Aberystwyth.

The concern was that it may make its way up from Carmarthen to Aberaeron via Synod Inn and miss out west Wales completely but that now will not be the case!

I'm absolutely delighted that this iconic sporting emblem will be coming through Cardigan. I raised the matter in 2009 when I was Mayor when the opportunity of welcoming the Olympic Torch to our community first became feasible.

This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for us and will act as a great spur to encourage tomorrow's Olympians from within our midst to make that extra effort in their pursuit of excellence.

Roll on May 27th!

A Musical Tribute to a much missed Dad on his 75th Birthday

Today would've been my Father's 75th birthday. He passed away in June 2003 aged just 66 and I have mentioned him many times before in this blog. His lasting legacies to me are plentiful, many of which I have touched upon previously.

But to celebrate his birthday today, I wanted to remember him through the music that he enjoyed and which I in turn in turn, grew to enjoy and love also.

He listened to a wide ranging mix of music did Dad and I suppose that in itself answers why my taste in music is so eclectic.

Here below is just a sample of Dad's taste in music. He liked ABBA and Chiquitita in particular but it was through his playing of the instrumental Arrival that I fell in love with that under-rated piece of music. He often played the sound of the Wurlitzer and it became a regular sound from his bedroom and his editing suite. I now have one of those CDs and when I play it, I think of him and the holiday when we and mum went to Blackpool to see the illuminations and visited the Tower Ballroom itself.

We often had David Alexander playing in the car. Dad was a fan and it wasn't long before I knew all of his lyrics off my heart - I still do. Though Dad couldn't speak Welsh, he had a deep love of Welsh choral music as now do I.

ABBA - Arrival


Blackpool Tower Wurlitzer


David Alexander - Working Man


Welsh Male Voice Choir


Finally, the music that will always remind me of my father more than any other - the wonderful sound of the Strauss family Waltzes. Every year we would sit down together to watch the live coverage of the New Years Day Concert from Vienna on BBC2. I still do so to this day.

The Blue Daube - Johann Strauss (Vienna New Years Day Concert)


This music touches me because it clearly touched my father. When I listen to it, he is still alive. It therefore goes without saying that I listen to this varied mix of music often.

So this Dad, is for you - your music and through you, my music. Or what I really mean is, our music. Happy Birthday and thank you for everything.

Britain's Greatest Footballing Manager - Sir Alex Ferguson (closely followed by Brian Clough)

Today is my father's 75th birthday. He wasn't much of a football fan but he did take me to Villa Park on my first trip to that footballing mecca of my life back in the autumn of 1995 when I was 13.

So he wouldn't have had much interest in the fact that his birthday coincided with a remarkable date in footballing history and to my amazement, I only realised it myself in recent days. For on my father's 50th birthday on November 6th 1986, Alex Ferguson became manager of Manchester United. Little could the footballing world have realised what a momentous moment that day would turn out to be in the world of British football. Little, no doubt, could my father have cared!

An Old Trafford Legend
Back in December I blogged here on Sir Alex's feat of overtaking Sir Matt Busby as the longest-serving manager in the history of that famous old club that since 1910 has played its home matches at Old Trafford.

Now, we stand at an incredible landmark in what is an incredible career. 25 years as manager at any club in the current 'hire 'em and fire 'em' climate is incredible enough but to have lasted that length of time at the helm of one of the world's biggest clubs and with all of the pressure that goes with that hot-seat makes it even more so.

His Honours List is just mind-boggling. 12 Premiership titles, 5 FA Cups, 4 League Cups, 2 Champions League titles, 1 European Cup Winners Cup title and a win each in the UEFA Super Cup, the Intercontinental Cup and the FIFA World Club Cup speak volumes in themselves. But it is longevity and his ability to re-build teams from within the club during that time to ensure that they remain at the pinacle of English football and the ability of those new teams to maintain that high standard is what marks him out for me as an extraordinary and unique individual within his profession.

The Competition?
Because let's not beat about the bush here, in my mind, Sir Alex Ferguson is the best British footballing manager of all-time. A big call? Absolutely and many will of course disagree. But as an Aston Villa fan that could grind many an axe with old Fergie (see the 1992/93 Premiership season and the 2010 Carling Cup final as examples), I am nevertheless first and foremost a historian and this historian can look back and realise that when he has long gone, Sir Alex Ferguson will be rightly considered a genius.

Ferguson - Paisley - Clough - Shankly

Scousers the world over will scream the name Bob Paisley and for good reason - 6 league titles, 3 league cups, 3 European Cups, 1 UEFA Cup and 1 European Super Cup stand the test of time at Anfield.

Bill Shankly also has a stellar record at that same club - 3 league titles, 2 FA Cups and a UEFA Cup.

Then what about 'Ol Big 'ead? Well, Brian Clough deserves his place in the pantheon without question. Indeed, I would arguably place his achievements above those of Paisley and Shankly. Why? Because he managed to win the league championship with unfancied clubs in the shape of Derby County in 1972 and Nottingham Forest in 1978 having brought both up from the second division - something that today would be nigh-on impossible to achieve. He then went on and matched Paisley's feat of back-to-back European Cup victories of 1977 and 1978 with those of his own in 1979 and 1980. A truly remarkable though tortured charcater.

Aberdeen
The names of Don Revie, Jock Stein, Bill Nicholson and Stan Cullis will also be mentioned and again for good reason. But like with Paisley and Shankly, they could only work their alchemy at a single club.

This for me is why Ferguson sits atop the pile. Why? Well, because for me his genius lies, similarly as it does with Clough, in the fact that he managed to prove his greatness at not just one, but two clubs.

Clough did what he did at two unfashionable clubs. Unfortunately however, although his longevity at the latter was of an impessive standard, the footballing results weren't - 4 League Cups were the sum total of his final 10 years at the City Ground with his final season ending in the ignominy of relegation in 1993. It was a sad way for a genius who could turn the ordinary into the exceptional, to end a controversial but glittering career.

Sir Alex Ferguson is the best of this illustrious bunch not because of what he has done at Manchester United, but because he did all that he has done there having done the same at Aberdeen before that.

Ferguson winning the European Cup Winners Cup
with Aberdeen

To say that he led the team from Pittodrie to 3 Scottish league titles, 4 Scottish FA Cups, a Scottish League Cup and a European Cup Winners Cup as well as the UEFA Super Cup is just playing with statistics. What he did, and what no man has done since, is smash the Old Firm stranglehold in Scottish football to bits. No team since his final league title win at Aberdeen in 1985 outside of Glasgow has been able to match that feat. That is a 26 year hold on the Scottish title by either Rangers of Celtic and the saddest thing is that that shows no sign of changing any time soon.

His back-to-back title wins with Aberdeen in 1984 and 1985 in addition is only the second time in the history of a Scottish  league that dates back to 1890 in which a club outside of the Old Firm duo has won outright back-to-back titles. The other was Hibernian in 1951 and 1952. That fact in itself is absolute madness but demonstrates just what a genius this man is that he could break that iron-like grip in a way that had hardly ever been done before and has not been done since.

In total, Sir Alex Ferguson has won 48 trophies as a manager, making him the most successful British football manager in history. But as my comments above testify, the sheer number isn't what makes him the best - it is his longevity, his proven track record with 2 different clubs in two different countries and an ability to reinvent a team to stay at the summit time after time after time that makes him the stand-out manager in the history of British football.

As a neutral footballing fan of Aston Villa support, I can make this argument without being blindly biased towards one club or another as most who make arguments in this debate inevitably are.

Sir Alex's Long Shadow - The Sir Alex Ferguson Stand
To mark his 25th anniversary, it was a wonderful touch by the club to honour the moment by re-naming the club's old North Stand in his honour. It is a fitting tribute which, like his incredible achievements, will last the test of time.

It will however, as will those achievements over these past 25 years, cast a long shadow over the club and that of his successor. When will Sir Alex leave the dugout? Who knows. He probably has a good 5 years left in him and I'm sure he'd like to match the one record that he yet holds - that of Bob Paisley's 3 European Cup victories. But whenever he does, as was the case when Sir Matt Busby retired after 24 years at the helm, it will take a giant of a character to fill his shoes.

Looking up from the dugout at that name looking back down at him, whoever it may be, probably won't help!

Falling into the Abyss - A Greek Tragedy

From economic and financial turmoil to the brink of political catastrophe, you've got to hand it to the Greek Governemnt - they're not doing anything by halves.

Prime Minister George Papandreou's snap decision to hold a nation-side referendum on the latest EU debt rescue package caught everyone by surprise. The negative reaction of European stock markets on hearing the news yesterday bore testament to that.

It is a quite incredible twist in events that has seemingly stolen from the jaws of an improbable victory, a catastrophic defeat for Greece.

The latest EU bail-out deal was probably as good as Papandreou could've hoped for. It would've meant a 100bn-euro loan to Athens and a 50% debt write-off of its current debts. But of course, the problem with that is the planned austerity measures that go hand-in-hand with this financial support. The cuts in pensions and public sector wages and the lay-off off thousands of workers has understandably caused an angry response from the populace to these measures that have already gone before and those that lie ahead if this additional package were accepted.


Papandreou: On a wing and a prayer?



Papandreou's Political Gamble

The Greek Prime Minister however has decided to play the biggest gamble by risking the loss of the package afforded to him by the EU in the face of the angry reaction that he has received at home.

The likelihood is that the referendum could well be lost and with it surely, the last remnants of Greece's place in the 17-nation Eurozone. In the short-term, the financial bankruptcy of a nation that this would presumably precipitate would be worse than anything currently being experienced by the residents of Greece. Though having said that, the longer-term repercussions once a new and more reasonable level has been found for the now reconceived Drachma may be more hopeful for a weary and tired nation.

Short-term pain but long-term gain then for Greece if they were to refuse the bail-out and force an early exit from the Eurozone? I'm no economist but this lay-man asks the question.

Greek Elections?

Yet, we may not have a referendum after all.

On Friday, Papandreou faces a Confidence Motion in his governemnt which he himself has tabled. This is a Government that now has a wafer-thin majority of just 2 in a Parliament of 300. It also includes a number of his own party members who have openly called for him to quit as leader. If he loses the vote on Friday and it could well happen, then there will likely be a snap general election. This will cause even more turmoil at a time when what is required is steady and calm leadership to steer a nation through unprecedented waters.

He may of course win the vote on Friday and still go on to lose the referendum which in itself will surely result in the fall of his government and fresh elections anyway.

Europe Awaits

But of course the repercussions of Greece's decision doesn't just remain within its own borders. The remainder of the Eurozone and indeed the remainder of the membership of the EU including Britain, await with baited breath, every nuanced move made in these delicate and dangerous times.

The reaction of the markets yesterday was not a positive sign and the biggest worry now is that until a referendum is held, the uncertainty in the markets is only going to increase. The talk is of a January referendum with some optimistically holding out for one as early as December. Either way, the best-case scenario is that the European markets have 4 weeks of limbo during which the situation can very easilty deteriorate. At worse, it could be the New Year before the situation becomes clearer.

The Abyss

Papandreou has played his ace card - the card that gives the final authority on Greece's economic future to the people of Greece. It is in fact, rather apt that he has done so when you consider that it was in Ancient Greece that the concept of direct democracy took shape.

But it is the greatest of gambles. He may win his confidence motion on Friday and win around a sceptical public to support the package in the referendum. If he does, his decision will be viewed by many as a masterly show of cunning resolve.

But is it? What it has done is exacerbated the sense of crisis that surrounds this whole sorry tale. A tale that began when Greece was allowed entry in the Eurozone in the first place. French President Sarkozy was candid in speaking to the media recently when he said that the decision to allow Greece into the Eurozone in hindsight now looks like a mistate. Without question, he was correct.

But the past can not be altered. The future however is another matter but we do not know what that future has in store for Greece and for the rest of Europe.

Greece stands at the abyss and in my opinion now, it's going to fall right into it. This is the greatest tragedy of all.

My Internet Stat Porn Monthly Report (14) October

This is my fourteenth monthly round-up of blog figures for anyone who is remotely interested in who reads my little blog. These stats for the month of October come courtesy of google analytics.

Calming Down
As with September, October has been a relatively quiet month.

My output for the month of 20 blog posts is my lowest since last November when I blogged 19 times and one less than my total for last month.

In September, I had a total of 4,218 absolute unique visitors to my blog (up on my September total of 3,636 but down on my May record of 6,485). Those 4,218 absolute unique visitors made 4,581 visits to my blog in October (up on the 3,859 total from September but down on the 6,908 record from May). They did however view 11,517 pages has eclipsed the previous best in May of 9,738 pageviews.

The top 10 stories by direct page views that you've read this month were:

1. The longest headed goal in footballing history?! Arise, Jone Samuelson!
2. Wembley Bound with Swansea City AFC!
3. 9am: Swansea City AFC - Premier League!
4. Brian Blessed, Chancellor of Cambridge University?!
5. Labour's Leighton Andrews' Extraordinary Live TV Coco Pops Outburst
6. Rory McIlroy - A Leap of Faith to Join the Immortals of Golf
7. Happy 65th Birthday Freddie Mercury
8. 'The King's Speech' - The Book Vs The Film (SPOILER WARNING!)
9. British Guns on Dublin's Streets
10. 3 Ceredigion County Councillors admit their £12,000 expenses errors

Of the 10, only 2 were written this month - the other 8 are popular blog posts written in months past that continue to attract hits. The 2 that I wrote this month came in at No.1 and 10.

After 4 months at the top, my Rory McIlroy - A Leap of Faith to Join the Immortals of Golf blog post fell down to No.6 and was replaced by The longest headed goal in footballing history?! Arise, Jone Samuelson! blog post which, thanks to my Brazilian readership, has instantly become my 5th most read post of all-time!

Blog Traffic
Of all of the blog visitors this past month, 9.36% were through direct traffic (down from 12.52% in September), 35.91% came from referring sites (up from 25.92% in September) and 54.73% via search engines (down from 61.56% in September).

The bounce rate for the month was 8.40% which again, like with the September figures seems remarkably low to me but then who am I who to argue with Google Analytics?! 80.24% were new visits as opposed to 19.76% returning visitors.

An International Blog!
The visitors to my little blog came from 104 countries/territories this month - up from my September tally of 98 but down on May record of 123, with a cumulative total of 168 countries/territories having supplied visitors to my blog to date.

The top ten countries to date are as follows (with position change from October & % of total views):

1. United Kingdom (No Change) 50.9% (=)
2. United States (No Change) 19.0% (-0.7%)
3. Brazil (+7) 2.4% (+1.2%)
4. Germany (-1) 2.2% (-0.1%)
5. Canada (-1) 2.0% (-0.2%)
6. Australia (-1) 1.8% (=)
7. Ireland (-1) 1.4% (-0.1%)
8. Poland (-1) 1.3% (-0.1%)
9. France (+1) 1.2% (=)
=10. Denmark (-1) 1.2% (-0.1%)
=10. Holland (New Entry) 1.2%

In possibly the greatest shake-up up of my monthly top 10 since I began blogging, my Brazilian readership doubled in the space of just a few weeks as some 700 or so viewed my The longest headed goal in footballing history?! Arise, Jone Samuelson! blog post. I know Brazilians are crazy about football, but that really is crazy! As a result, Brazil shot up from 10th in my all-time list up to 3rd. Wow!

It has continued to be a very cosmopolitan blog this month and honourable mentions must go in particular to the 2 new countries/territories that has provided its first viewers to my blog this October.

Kazakstan and Angola have both supplied its first reader to my blog during the past month!

Fair play to them all, and to you all, for putting up with my ramblings!