We've tried a few innovations over the two and a bit seasons of MNS. One thing we haven't yet tried is production office camera.
When the panellists come into RTÉ on Mondays, they head for the production office to view footage of all the weekends games, check out which bits they might want to isolate for analysis, and it's where we have our pre programme meeting with the editor, director, and the production team.
Things like the duration of our chats are teased out, what issues are likely to come up in the discussions, and so on. It's also the place where some really unexpected stuff happens. For instance this week, Eoin Hand serenaded us all to a rendition of: 'The Flower that Shattered the Stone'.
Those of you who may have bought Eoin's recent charity album will know he possesses a fine set of lungs, and I reckon he may be back in the recording studio soon.
'Choons' Prunty had never heard of the song that Eoin was singing, but it was one-all when Eoin asked Prunts, who he had chosen for the end of season 'MNS Factor' karaoke. Choons said he went for Run DMC, and Eoin looked at him with glazed eyes, as if Sean had told him what kind of car he drove.
If we had that on a production office cam it could be a ratings winner!
In studio in the minutes before we went on air, we were talking about GAA players who had tried their hand at playing soccer. It came about when Eoin posed the question about whether Colm 'The Gooch' Cooper might have made a good soccer player.
Names like Kevin Moran (obviously), Jason Sherlock, Anthony Tohill, and Meath goalie Brendan Murphy were bandied about, at which point Dave Barry gave us that 'when are you going to mention my name' look.
I said that I'd seen Dave with a sliotar and cumann in Derry and he'd been fairly handy. I think he believed for a moment that I'd forgotten his exploits for the Cork footballers way back when.
Don't worry Davy boy, your All Ireland success will never be forgotten as long as you keep making your son's friends watch the video every time they call to the house!
Three matches into the season and already the Premier Division table is taking shape. As expected Bohemians are at, or near the summit, and Bray Wanderers are propping up the table, but some of the placings in between are raising a few eyebrows.
Ian Foster's Dundalk, and Paul Cook's Sligo Rovers are both unbeaten after three games, and are in the top half of the table, which will please their supporters no end.
Paul Cook was telling me on Saturday that the table after three games is not necessarily a real reflection of where the teams actually are in terms of their development, but as the old Irish saying goes 'Tús maith leath na hoibre' – a good start is half the work.
That would certainly apply to the likes of Dundalk, Sligo, and especially St Pat's.
Both of Dundalk's wins have come away from home which is something that will really please Ian Foster, who has already admitted that his side haven’t played that well so far, but against Shamrock Rovers, it looked like the Lilywhites were hitting the groove.
Neal Fenn's finish for the opening goal was as good as anything you'd see from the likes of Fernando Torres, Didier Drogba or Robbie Keane.
Shamrock Rovers third from bottom, and lowest scorers in the league with just one goal (and that came from the penalty spot!), is not what most observers had anticipated. The absence of Gary Twigg and Dessie Baker being sorely felt, and the confidence seems to be visibly draining from Michael O'Neills side.
The game in Galway which is live on RTÉ Two this Friday night at 7.30, now becomes a vitally important one for the Hoops.
Some of your comments on the MNS facebook page have been pretty funny. 'Your boys took one hell of a beating' and 'Con was last seen crying into his Kleenex in the Maldron Hotel' two of the more printable ones.
The one thing that is important for teams like Bray, Drogheda, Shamrock Rovers and Galway, is that the supporters keep the faith and keep supporting the teams. Three games into a season is no time for people to start deserting the ship. More than ever the teams and particularly the individual players need as much encouragement that they can get, and booing, or jeering them won't help their performances.
I watched Sligo Rovers and Galway United at the Showgrounds on Saturday night, and although Sean Connors side didn’t get anything from the game, they do have a couple of young players who can definitely play.
Seamus Conneely reminds me more of Steve Finnan every time I see him, and given the right service, Karl Sheppard in attack could prove to be a real find. Friday's game at Terryland should be very interesting and I know I sound like a scratched record, but I'd love to think the Galway public get out and support their team in big numbers. The visit of Shamrock Rovers is usually a good draw.
A reminder to keep the emails coming in to mns@rte.ie; you can also write to us at MNS, RTÉ, Donnybrook, Dublin 4, and of course the facebook and twitter pages will keep you in touch as well.
Finally, don't forget the new the League of Ireland Football Show with Damien O'Meara goes out on RTÉ Radio's digital station Radio 1 extra, each Monday at 6.30pm, but if you miss the programme at 6.30 you can download it from itunes and on the RTÉ sport website whenever you want.
It's a very good listen for anyone interested in the game here, and the perfect appetizer for MNS which follows on RTÉ Two straight after the radio programme has finished.
