Should Russia have been allowed into the Rio 2016 Olympics?

I realise that the above question can provide a very simple answer but that wouldn't be much of an article now would it?

Ever since it was revealed that Russia had partaken in a doping scandal that involved their governemnt no less, people have been calling for them to be banned from all competitions especially the Olympics.

This nearly happened when the IOC (International Olympic Committee) asked for a blanket ban on all sportsmen and women from Russia. This was welcomed by some but not all as the athletes who had raced clean felt they were being punished for something they had no part in. How much of that is true remains to be seen.

However, the ban was overturned and each sport overviewed the athletes and picked who could and couldn't compete which caused a lot of confusion.

Here is what I would have done (for any country not just Russia). I would have looked at the test results and anyone who has been banned for drugs is banned for life. If you are stupid enough to do it then you should face the consequences of your actions and never compete again. The term once a cheat always a cheat springs to mind there. Anyone who is suspected of doping should be suspended from all competition pending a full and proper test result.

Those who miss tests should also be banned until they can provide a sample for testing and even then it has to be clean of course. I do include Lizzie Armitstead in that bracket as well (I don't care she is British and a medel hope for us, if she cheated she cheated no remorse).

In conclusion I feel that Russia should of been allowed to compete at the games but a serious review into their sport needs to happen sooner rather than later to avoid all this confusion happening again. Also the full ban on the Paralympics for Russia is stupid and the athletes should be subject to the same rules as the able bodied Olympics no matter how complicated it is. 

Match report West Ham United VS Manchester City

West Ham United VS Manchester City

Upton Park 19/10/2013

Manchester City secured their first away win of the season against West Ham at Upton Park.

Two goals from Sergio Aguero and one from David Silva ensured a 3-1 over the Hammers to help them climb to 4^th in the table.

Having lost to Cardiff and Aston Villa away from home, and only picking up a point at Stoke, City were under pressure ahead of a tough trip to Russia in the Champions League in midweek.

West Ham, buoyed by their win at White Hart Lane two weeks ago, were looking to end a dismal run of 3 straight home defeats, however City had other ideas.

Manchester City had the better of the opening minutes as they passed the ball around the midfield and created half chances from Negredo and Toure, before Aguero put the visitors in front.

Fernandinho spotted a gap in the hammers defence and slotted a ball through to Aguero who was one on one with the keeper and placed it home in the bottom right corner.

Going in at half time one nil down, West Ham might have thought they could get something out of the game however; this was quickly squashed by City within five minutes of the second half.

After Aguero drew a foul on the right hand side of the pitch, David Silva produced a perfect ball into an unmarked Aguero who headed home into the top right corner despite Jaaskelainen getting a hand on it.

West Ham did find a way back into the match through Ricardo Vaz Te as he produced a splendid overhead kick to give the home fans hope with just over half an hour of the game remaining.

City were to have the final say through as that man Aguero controlled a long ball, took it into the area and cut the ball back to Silva who took two touches before slamming the ball with his left foot into the top right hand corner.

With the game as good as over, City controlled possession and wound the clock down to ensure West Ham drop to 14^th and improve their own title hopes in the process.

Braders Banter Chelsea

Chelsea

Now as you may have read in a previous blog, I referred to Arsenal as the laughing stock of English football. However coming a very close second are the adventures on the Thames of Chelsea Football Club.

This club is a mess. Ever since Mourinho left, Chelsea was always bound to struggle as his rise to glory only took one season and he got the support he needed. Grant got them to within a point of the title and the Champions league final but to be fair, even I could have done that job. Big Phil struggled as he is an international manager and so cannot adapt to the league format. Hiddink was amazing in charge and deserve to stay for longer than he did. Ancelotti was unfairly sacked after clinching the double the season before. And then we come to AVB.

Now I must admit I had never heard of AVB until he arrived at Chelsea. All I knew was he was a young manager who had secured the Portuguese title and the Europa league with Porto. At the start, he was bound to struggle as he adapted to the English game, this is a given. Now I accept that his performances were less than satisfying before he got the sack but COME ON. He was doing ok in the league as a rookie manager but the big Russian wanted the bloody title off a manager with 1 years’ experience under his belt in management. NOT GONNA HAPPEN.

He was dealing with the biggest brunch of drama queens I have ever seen who turn on a manager because he is their age. It is unbelievable. I believe AVB should have been given at least 3 seasons to mould the club into his own image and turn them into the team he wanted. But how wrong am I.

I hope Di Matteo realises he cannot do the job for Chelsea and leave the club before he too is swept out the revolving door. As for the new manager? I could not care less as whoever takes over will not get any time to sort the club out, not get any money and be out the door by the next season. Although with the money they get paid, maybe I could take the job. I could do with a pay check.

Rainham Cricket Club VS Conchords B

Rainham Cricket Club VS Conchords B

After two wins on the bounce which has seen Rainham climb into mid table, the run looked to be bowling on with the visit of Conchords B side.

The team had one change from last week’s victory. Unfortunately the finisher from last week Gary was ill and so fresh from his holiday in the USA, Paul Swaine returned to hopefully pick up where Gary left off.

The game actually turned out to be enteraining affair as the tide swung between these two mid table teams. Tony improved on his setting and won 2 of them. For checkouts, Tony managed one of 22 whereas Paul Fry managed two checkouts of 20 and 40 respectively. The final result of 3-3 was fair of these two teams as neither had much to play for in the league.

For averages, Tony improved to a 56.3 and was quite a way ahead of Paul Fry who got 49.6. Gary's replacement Paul Swaine finished fourth with an average of 47.6 just behind Foz. In the battle of the washing up, Barry scored 35.4 which beat Ed's 27.4. However, Ed left early and so it was left to Barry to wash up.

In the doubles, Tony and Paul Swaine lost the opener but only just. Paul Fry and Foz managed to win their match and so it came down to the final doubles match. With no partner, Barry was forced to play with the scorer AKA yours truely. Even though we lost together, I actually had a good game and did not score anything below double figures ( Not to blow my own horn much ).

Overall a mixed bag of emotions for the cricket club as they feel the win was possible but it just 'slipped' from their grasp and disappeared behind the 'covers' of the night.

Braders banter Liverpool

Liverpool

This team has become the luckist in the world of football. Now many of my friends are Liverpool fans and they will disagree with the above statement but just hear me out.
Ever since 'King' Kenny came back, Liverpool have improved a little bit since Rafa's last year in charge ( Let's ignore Hodgson's reign). But that is not enough.
They may have won the Carling Cup but to be honest that competition is a bit of a joke. Just a chance for youngsters to get some football. What Liverpool should be fighting for is the Champions League or the Premiership.
However, this club has gone downhill and will only improve once Suarez stops being racist ( he got found guilty, deal with it) and Carroll actually starts scoring goals ( £35 million my arse). This was once one of the most feared clubs in England and Europe.
Now they have to resort to people missing pens to win even the Carling cup. I think that Liverpool fans need to accept they will never be as good as they were in the past and realise that the only competition they will win until they get decent players is the poor man's FA cup.

Braders banter Carlos Tevez

Carlos Tevez

This man is a joke. After arriving on the scene by keeping West Ham up, then moving to Manchester United before moving to City for big money, he was one of the most respected and feared strikers in the land. Then came Munich.

On the 27th September 2011, Tevez refused to come on as a sub against Bayern as he had a 'Headache'. Mancini then said afterwards he would never pay for him again.

After being fined 4 weeks wages which was reduced to 2 by the PFA (God knows why), he decided to bugger off and leave Manchester and improve his golf handicap in his native Argentina. After a 3 month leave of absense, he comes back and says he is ready to play.

What planet is this guy on? He even said Man City treated him like a dog when he got back to the country and yet City still treat him like he is God on Earth. Many City fans have said they do not want him back and i agree with them. It does not say much for the future of football when a greedy, selfish and disrespecting player walks back into a club that has worked hard in his absense to get to where they are, and expects to be paid and to play professional football again.

Personally, I hope Mancini wakes up and smells the coffee and tells Tevez to leave the club and go and take up golf in his native Argentina seeing has he has had plenty of practice recently.

West Ham VS Southhampton

West Ham VS Southampton

What a beautiful night it was. Little bit cold so you could snuggle up with your true love. See a bit of red as you settle in. Produce a cracking performance and finish feeling satisfied with it as well.

I am of course talking about West Ham and their top of the table clash with Southampton. For me, a single guy, going up to see the Hammers on Valentine’s Day was a foregone conclusion. And it seemed for over 30,000 others, their missus lost the battle and they got to be there with their one true love. With the team selection, I was pleased that Vaz Te was given a start as he can provide pace and threaten the defence. I do not think I was the only one surprised when Cole was left up front by himself again but I suppose Big Sam knew more than I did.

Even from the opening whistle, the referee had it in for us. As soon as a player went for the ball, he was called up on it but the Southampton defenders could man handle Cole and get away with it. In my opinion, the penalty decision could have gone either way, but one thing I do not agree with is Taylor’s red card.

He was pushed first and so pushed him back on the shoulder but the big Southampton cry baby went down holding his face and the ref produced the red card. A shambles. Even when Noble converted the penalty, I was still nervous about the result. However, I felt the sub Sam made worked and we made a great game of it with only ten men.

Green was in England form and was outstanding and was unlucky to concede their equaliser. How he lost the man of the match award was beyond not only me but everyone sitting around me.

Leaving the stadium, I was satisfied as we were still top of the league by a point and we could have the confidence to keep it going till the end of the season.

What annoyed me was listening to BBC Radio 5 Live on the way home, and hearing Nigel Adkins saying how they dominated the game. What game was he watching?! We stuffed them and were unlucky not to score again. Plus they did have 12 men on the pitch and we still beat and outplayed them with 10 men.

Going into the Palace game, hopefully we got a good result away at Blackpool and returned to the top of the table. If not then we need to produce a good performance against Palace and show Southampton that we will fight till the very end.

From Bradley Freelove