Soccer Republic replaces MNS on RTE

The end of the days of MNS has arrived. The longstanding stalwart of the League of Ireland fans week is to be replaced by a new, spin off show, Soccer Republic. It comes with a new starting time of 11:05 PM which will bring many, more vintage fans back to the days of Eircom League weekly.

Unlike Eircom League weekly though, there will now be other ways to watch, like the RTE Player, which surely will be utilised to it’s full potential by fans.

The show will be not much different to MNS in its personnel. Peter Collins will continue in the presenter’s chair with regular panelists Richie Sadlier, Tony McDonnell and Brian Kerr continuing also.

The will be a host of new and returning panelists, including Paul McGrath, Pat Fenlon, Ronnie Whelan, Keith Gillespie and Kenny Cunningham.

The shows format though, has been tweaked. There will be, obviously, your regular Airtricity League highlights, but the spotlight will now also fall brightly on the International team, as well as our top talents in the English top divisions.

Although, on the surface, some fans will be aggravated by a later start time and a greater focus on other aspects of the Irish game, it does broaden the base for the football watching public Soccer Republic will reach.

The new show will also be more technologically advanced than the previous incarnation with what RTE describes as ‘the latest technology’ being brought into the studio, that is certainly something to look forward to.

The first show will be on March 10th and will include interviews with both Martin O’Neill and Roy Keane who will have faced Serbia on March 5th and will also review the opening weekend of the Airtricity League which shoots back into life on March 7th.