Despite the fact that there were only three Premier Division matches played last week, we had a busy programme on Monday with footage of the Derry City and St Pat’s Europa League ties from midweek, as well as the feature on Pat Fenlon and news from the Ireland camp ahead of Wednesday’s friendly against Australia.
All in all, a fairly packed hour, and with plenty of talking points to get through with Damien, Richie and Tony.
At times, the feeling in studio is that we'd like more time to develop a discussion on a particular topic, but it's a question of finding a balance between showing footage of the matches, post-match reaction and studio analysis.
Feel free to tell us if you think we have or haven't got the balance right. My own feeling is that we probably have the mix of chat and football close to spot on, but if you disagree, let us know. Your comments - good, bad or indifferent - can be sent to mns@rte.ie.
I thought it was quite sad to see 7000 red-jersey clad supporters going to see the Liverpool reserves play against Dunmanway in a pre-season kick-about. How depressing to see those youngsters going to watch their ‘heroes’ in red, and yet so many of those kids have probably never sampled the atmosphere of a live League of Ireland match.
It's a pity when you think that a few miles (about 45, I'm told) down the road from Dunmanway are Cork City, who've been teetering on the brink of extinction because not enough people have been coming through the gates to support the club, meanwhile, 7000 souls will turn up for a meaningless match.
Of course for Dunmanway, it was far from a meaningless match, and the funds raised will be put to good use no doubt, and good luck to them, but for the punters who went along it was an occasion rather than a serious football match.
What about all the hoopla that surrounded Shamrock Rovers friendly against Real Madrid, I hear you ask?
For starters, I'm already on record as saying I have very little time for pre-season, or mid-season friendlies, and secondly, it was Real’s real team with the likes of Ronaldo, Raul and Guti all turning up to play. This wasn't a Real Madrid reserve team. It was also heartening to see that Shamrock Rovers had the majority of the support for that match unlike the situation in Dunmanway, where it seemed from the television footage that 90% of the crowd were there to hail the Reds. Some of the players on show may even see the odd bit of first team football this season!
It was heartening to see the size of the away support in Drogheda for Shamrock Rovers match there. Everyone’s a winner, because the Hoops get great support away from home, Drogheda get badly needed sheckles in the form of ticket and programme sales, and the man selling hamburgers thought it was his birthday as well! The away terrace was so full, that I'm told some Rovers supporters were admitted to the stand. When was the last time that the away section of any League of Ireland ground was over-subscribed? It's a positive story that needs to be told to counteract the negative press the league has been getting.
Incidentally, I'd love to know who the bright spark at Dalymount Park was who insisted that the Cork City fans were shepherded into a corner of the stand behind the goal where the couldn't be seen by the cameras covering the match.
Why not let them move 40 yards to their right behind the goal, so when the goal is scored, there are bodies in the background instead of empty red seats? If I had travelled all the way to Dublin from Cork to watch a match, the idea of being crowded into a far corner of the ground with the worst view in the stadium might make me think twice about making a return visit.
Are we serious about trying to encourage more people to come to the games? Somebody needs to cop on. If allowing the Cork fans to move behind the goal was considered a security risk at Dalymount, how the Red Bull Salzburg fans were allowed into the main stand for the recent Champions League game would surely be a bigger risk, and of course that evening passed off without a hitch. In fact when the Bohs PRO Brian Trench addressed the Salzburg fans in German over the PA, they were all friends for life it seemed.
The bottom line is that the league is desperate for more people to come to the grounds, and everyone involved has to try to make that as pleasurable an experience as possible. Ask somebody to sit on a hard wooden bench when they go to cinema and it's a good bet that they wouldn’t go back.
Shove them into the corner of a ground and surround them with stewards and Gardai, and it becomes something less than a fun evening out.
Speaking of fun nights out, anyone who went to the Showgrounds on Saturday night will have surely enjoyed the seven goals, the near-misses and the odd questionable decision. The entertainment was top rate, even if the defending was something less than that.
Dundalk remain in the top half and Sligo Rovers continue to struggle, but I think Sligo's new signings up front will do enough to keep the Bit O’Red safe. Matthew Blinkhorn looks like he has a good eye for goal and I've been impressed the couple of times I've seen him play.
This week’s midweek series of games and then the FAI Ford Cup Fourth Round ties, mean that there's matches galore to enjoy across the country and we've lots of games to show next Monday, with hopefully some great goals and big talking points.
Lets hope you can tune in at 8pm on RTE 2 on Monday, but if you can't don't forget the RTÉ Player, where you can watch the programme 24/7.
