I enjoyed the mid-season break as much as the players, management and fans, who wanted to avail of the chance to go away for a few days. I did just that, and took off to Lisbon to get some heat into my bones.
It was interesting to be out and about in that beautiful city last Friday night, and to receive a succession of text messages, letting me know of every goal as they were scored in the eircom league throughout the evening.
There I was trying to enjoy my cocida a Portuguesa, only for the bleeper to go off again to let me know that Cork City were giving Cobh a hiding, the Hoops were on their way to three points, and Derry had sneaked a late winner at Drogheda.
You can go away, but you can never fully get away from the eircom league, if it's part of your life.
Incidentally, we heard this week that MNS is picking up a cult following in Eastern Europe. Thanks to the delights of the RTÉ website, there is now a bunch of Russian fans, who watch each show, and enjoy observing the weekly events in the league here.
Maybe we'll see the first Irish player move to a top Russian club in the not too distant future if the word gets out that there's talent to be trawled for here.
Before this weeks show, I had a mini crisis. To those of you unfamiliar with TV broadcasting, a presenters ear piece is a vital piece of equipment. Through that earpiece you get direction from the programme director - funnily enough - and the programme editor.
They constantly inform you about what's happening next, and if there are problems they'll alert you in advance amongst other things.
My earpieces have been moulded to perfectly fit into my right and left ears, and without them I'd be struggling. When I returned from Lisbon, I couldn't find my earpieces in the usual bag I keep them in.
Cue mild panic, as I had Crimecall to present on Tuesday after Monday's MNS programme.
My Crimecall producer, Kate, said she'd pray to St Anthony for the safe return of the earpieces, and remarkably within a couple of hours, I found them in the most unlikely of places. In a recycling bin in the sports production office.
How they got there I don't know, and how I found them is another mystery, but I think I'll tip my cap to St. Anto!
As for this weeks show, we were delighted to get the chance to 
chat with Paddy McCourt about his move from Derry City to Celtic. He hadn't done any interviews about the move before our show, so it was a nice little coup for us to get him on the programme.
Before we went on air we had a brief chance chat to make sure Paddy could hear us in the studio. However all he heard was Roddy telling him to get a haircut!. Mind you, one well known striker with a top club was quick to text Roddy after the show, to slag him about his ever expanding sideburns.
Mr Colllins party piece is a well known Elvis standard, and if the sideburns continue to grow, Roddy will resemble the King from his latter years in Vegas.
It would be great if Paddy makes a big impression at Parkhead, but as I said on the programme, Celtics gain is the eircom Leagues loss, because he was without doubt, one of the real entertainers in the premier division.
Sean Connor was telling me that as part of his UEFA Pro licence, he has spent some time observing the training methods employed at Athletico Madrid, and he plans to return to the Spanish capital soon.
It's a measure of the new professional approach to the league that the pro licence will be an important part of any coaches cv, and when you look at somebody like Roy Keane going to New Zealand to watch the All Blacks and the way they approach each game, it shows that good practice in sport, whether with the round or oval ball, can be assimilated by everyone, and put into practical use.
Hopefully that will be the case in the eircom league, and it would seem that it is the way of the future.
One of the pleasures for me in doing a programme like MNS, is to meet and get to know people like Sean, and the other Sean on the panel this week, Sean Dillon, who's done really well at Dundee United since his move from Shelbourne.
He was telling us after the show that in a pre-season game last year Dundee United played Barcelona in a friendly. Sean was marking Ronaldinho for most of the game, until the Brazilian switched with first Thierry Henry, and then Samuel Etoo. Dillo assured us he had them in his pocket!. Incidentally Barca won 1-0, but United had a goal disallowed.
Former Shamrock Rovers striker Noel Hunt is another at Tannadice who has shown that the step from eircom league to top level Scottish football can be made, and are good examples for Paddy McCourt as he embarks on his journey.
It was nice to be able to feature Bohemians 5-1 win over Rhyl in the Intertoto Cup on the programme.
Although intertoto cup results don't count towards the leagues uefa co-efficient, its vitally important for the credibility of the league that the full-time set ups here don't slip up against the likes of Rhyl who are out of season at the moment.
It was interesting to note that Glen Crowe and Jason Byrne have now scored 19 European goals between them over the years. And hopefully they'll add to that in the second leg in Rhyl on Saturday night.
I was interested to see that Pat Fenlon in his after match interview on the mns website, said that Tuesday nights game against Finn Harps is more important than the intertoto cup matches. It was also interesting to hear that Bohs have sold 600 tickets for the second leg in Wales.
That's great travelling support, and hopefully the Gypsies will go through to probably play an Icelandic team in the second round.
Speaking of travelling support, it was nice to see Roy Keane in the crowd at Turners Cross for the Cork-Cobh game. I wonder was he impressed with what he saw. I'd imagine a few Cork players caught his eye, but maybe he was just there to enjoy the game.
A crowd of 4000 in the middle of Euro 2008 was another 
demonstration, that if Cork City are going well, winning matches, and scoring goals, the crowds will come. I reckon John O'Flynn's opener was one of the best goals I've seen all season. Roddy may not agree, but I think Tony O'Donoghues analogy between Holland and Cork City breaking from a corner and scoring within seconds is an accurate one.
Liam Kearney's goal in front of the shed looked great. Whatever the knockers might say, I still think we've a good product here. Not without its flaws, and not without its problems, but it's Irish, and I'll take a trip to Ballybofey, or Terryland, or Cork, every time compared to the early Saturday morning flights and ferries to London, Manchester, Liverpool and beyond for my footie fix.
Lets hope more people come round to my way of thinking.
