Programme 6, and our Brummy editor Steve, is annoyed at me. Actually, I don't think he's really annoyed, but he pretends to be. During the Good, Bad and Ugly segment, I wouldn't say what he wanted me to say.
He wanted to start the piece where Kirby and Funston had a wrestling match with the words...'easy, easy, easy'. I'm told by him that this is some reference to WWF wrestling that goes way over my head.
We have regular battles over the use of certain words. He doesn't like big words, or as he might say...foreign stuff! Last week, I used the term 'in quiz show parlance'; which he wanted to change to 'quiz show speak'.
That was a battle I won, but Steve is definitely more of a Sunday Sport sort, than an Observer man. That said, he knows football, and television production better than most.
There are small touches in the MNS output that show that a bit of thought has gone into them. And there's more to come over the coming weeks. New items, fresh features, and a constant review of our output, so keep the e-mails coming to mns@rte.ie.
Apart from the e-mails which come into to us - and we've had several hundred at this stage, for which thanks - we also look from time to time at the various fans' forums on the Internet to see what the general reaction to the output is like.
One contributor calls me a fool every week, and gives out about the fact that I say soccer instead of football. The irony is that I said football many more times than soccer in the show this week, but some people get a bee in their bonnet about something and tend to listen with rather closed ears.
It reminds me of Gay Byrne's crusade to eliminate the soft Irish 'T'. To Gay, and the person who thinks I'm a fool, I would simply say, 'let it go'. Listen to Nuala O'Faolain's gutwrenching interview with Marian Finucane last weekend, and remember, there are much more important things in life to be getting upset about.
I'm not madly keen on looking back at programmes I've presented on television. There's always something a little bit cringe-worthy in seeing yourself on screen. Try listening back to a tape recording of your voice, and as you listen, you'll say, 'that doesn't sound like me'.
When you look back at pictures on the screen, you also have that slightly out of body experience. Do I really look like that? Do I sound like that? And why do I always purse my lips when leading into a match report!
The benefit of looking back at previous programmes is that you can spot if you are using the same phrase, or word too often.
Using any physical move too often (see the pursed lips comment above), and it's also useful to listen to the interviews and watch the match reports again, as sometimes during the programme, you're receiving instructions from the floor manager, director, editor, autocue operator, etc., and it can be hard to take it all in properly.
A viewer complained recently that I never seem to know which camera to be looking at. The reality is that we broadcast from the smallest studio (with the exception of The Den, and weather forecast studios) in RTÉ. The cameras are all remotely controlled, and there are only three cameras on the floor.
So when the camera facing the couch that I'm sitting on is focused on the person sitting beside me, if I'm about to speak to the camera immediately after the person beside me, they have to cut to a wide shot of the studio, to give the person operating the remote camera a chance to switch it from the person beside me, over to me directly. That gives the impression for a couple of seconds that I'm speaking to the wrong camera, when in actual fact, there's no other way of getting around the problem.
This might sound like an excuse, but it's the reality of working in a small studio with a limited number of cameras. Hopefully this explanation addresses the complaint that I don't seem to know where to be looking.
This week we announced the winner of our Goal of the Month competition for March. There was little doubt that Keith Fahey's goal was going to win.
It was interesting to see on the MNS website that around 50% of voters in the online poll voted for Fahey, that, despite club allegiances that probably led some voters to go for other goals. Of those who entered our competition on the programme, over 75% voted for Fahey.
If every month's winner is of the standard of Fahey's strike, we should have a great Goal of the Season competition come season's end.
Several viewers have contacted the programme to vent their spleen over the panel's views on whether there should be eircom League players in the Irish senior international squad. Roddy Collins comes in for particular mention, and some e-mailers wondered how he could say that the players here, with the odd exception, aren't good enough to get into Trappatoni's squad?
He was giving an honest opinion. Something he's paid to do, and Damien Richardson and Colm Foley both agreed more or less. The angry e-mailers questioned how we could allow such views be aired on a programme that's there 'to promote the eircom League'?
Here's where I have to say, stall a halt. Everyone who's involved in the production of MNS, loves football and have a passionate interest in the eircom League, and I think that's reflected in our output, and has been recognised by the vast majority of the people who've taken the time to contact us.
But I can assure you 100% that we are not a vehicle to PROMOTE the eircom League. No programme with any integrity would agree to such a scenario, and no viewer with any sense would expect such. We are there to report on, analyse, and enjoy the league.
If questions have to be raised about, for example, the jersey clash issue, bad refereeing, disciplinary issues, managerial arrivals/departures, as well as the positive things that go to make the league what it is, we will ask them.
Let no-one tell you that we are there to promote the league. Imagine what a sterile one hour promo it would turn out to be every week. I love the league and have done so for four decades, but I don't kid myself that at this moment Giovanni could include several eircom League players in a 22-man squad for a World Cup qualifier, and anyone who does is deluding themselves.
This league has so much to offer; great fun going to matches, great goals and great matches to enjoy. A real bond with your local club that means something to you and your friends or children. That's to be savoured, but we've got to be realistic about international call-ups. Don't shoot the guy in the studio for giving an honest opinion.
I was a bit disappointed to see an e-mail wondering if I and the studio guests ever go to eircom League matches when they're not being broadcast live.
Why is it that some eircom League fans have such big chips on their shoulders, that they should question the credentials of our guests on the programme, or my credentials for that matter?
The reason that the guests are asked to appear on the programme is exactly because they offer expert analysis, having managed, played in, or covered the eircom League for many many years.
Of course, Damien Richardson still goes to matches. Likewise, Roddy Collins, Richard Sadlier, Colm Foley, Tony McDonnell, Sean Connor, etc. I probably don't even need to make this point, as most observers would be well aware that it is patently obvious that our panellists go to matches. But for the benefit of the doubters. Yes. We go to matches.
Fógra: One of the production team, Eamonn, who works on MNS is a staunch Longford Town supporter, and he was very sorry to tell me that Longford lost a loyal and true supporter recently, when 21-year-old Enda Muldowney passed away following a short illness. Enda will be fondly remembered by everyone at the club. RIP.
