QuoteChristo. What a ******. Anyone got a source for this yet?
Well, it seems the answer is yes
Christo. What a ******. Anyone got a source for this yet?
You can't spell failure without FAI
Mahon slams Doolin outburst
A BITTER war of words has erupted between former UCD manager Paul Doolin and his successor at Belfield, Pete Mahon.
Doolin, now manager of Premier Division high-flyers Drogheda United, launched a blistering broadside on Mahon in the aftermath of his side's 3-2 win over UCD in Monday night's FAI Carlsberg Cup quarter-final replay and the former Bohemians boss hasn't been slow to reply.
Doolin was reacting to comments made by Mahon in the build-up to last Friday's drawn game when he had spoken about the problems he had inherited at Belfield after taking over from the 41-year-old last season. Mahon said that the UCD players still hadn't recovered from Doolin's time there.
"I think most of the players that were there when I was there were average players before I arrived. His comments that the players have grudges against me doesn't bother me," stated Doolin.
Doolin, who said he would have made his comments irrespective of the result of the replay, felt his team's performance had justified his style of management.
"They say a team mirrors their manager and the one thing I always had in football was character and my team showed it tonight," said Doolin.
"We all know what happened Pete Mahon when he came under a bit of pressure at Bohs. He ran away from the job because he couldn't accept it.
"When you enter the arena of professional sport you have to accept the criticism. That's the difference between professional people and junior people and that's what his background is," said Doolin.
Mahon admitted last night that he was surprised by Doolin's outburst but wasn't bothered by them.
"I am not too concerned what Paul Doolin says because he is an insignificant person in my opinion," said Mahon. "In time Paul Doolin may become a good manager so I will give him the benefit of the doubt now.
"However, if Roddy Collins, Brian Kerr or Damien Richardson made those comments I would be concerned - not somebody who has failed to win a trophy," said Mahon.
"He is obviously under a lot of pressure. It's great when the band is playing but we will see what happens when it stops."
Doolin claimed that Mahon had failed to keep UCD up last season after he had taken over from him at Belfield while he had helped Drogheda avoid relegation.
"He had 16 games to do the job like I had here and he didn't do it," said Doolin.
Mahon pointed out that, in the 16 games he was in charge last season, UCD picked up 22 points to Drogheda's 15. "He talks about leaving UCD in good condition but he jumped ship before he was sacked," said Mahon.
With UCD currently on course for promotion next season, the stage is already set for an explosive re-match.
Gerry McDermott
www.unison.ie
Lads, anyone up for standing behind the home dugout during Drogheda's first visit next year? I think it might be well received.
You can't spell failure without FAI
Note to Pete Mahon " Doolins band will be finished playing when Longford are through with them at the weekend".
Meeow..Haven't seen a war of words like that in a while! I'd heard that Doolin was a surly son of a gun before but he always struck me as being a bit more diplomatic than that. I'd be surprised if those two will be on speaking terms in the future. As observer pointed out we're playing Drogs next and Alan Mathews is a good mate of Pete Mahon's so he may have revenge in mind for his friend!
Upwards to the vanguard where the pressure is too high.
I think that's the biggest shock - this is almost completely unprovoked, and certainly way over the top. Bitching at Mahon for quitting Bohs when his family were attacked by scumbags? I've lost any respect for Doolin as a person after this - whatever about him getting us relegated, he's now trying to take the credit for the Cup games, belittle Mahon and other idioticly petty points.Originally Posted by Longfordian
Have to say Mahon's managed it very well though, and has come out far better. In the Star, he points out that we couldn't field an U-21 team in one game last season and that we won two games of 20 under Doolin. Doolin, meantime, waffles on about how he kept Drogheda up while Mahon couldn't keep UCD up - hardly a criticism of Mahon seeing as we were 11 points adrift while the Drogs were three or four points clear! And he won none of the first 14 to nearly get them relegated in the end!
But Pete really knows how to get the digs in!
"If Roddy Collins, Brian Kerr or Damien Richardson made those comments I would be concerned - not somebody who has failed to win a trophy"
"He jumped ship before he was sacked"
Some more comments from The Star and The Mirror (seems to be a longer version)
"The task I faced was to keep the team (Drogheda) up in the Premier Division and that's what I did. Pete Mahon had as many games at UCD as I did at Drogheda to do the same and he failed" - Doolin
"When Paul left, the first team had won two games in twenty, while they had failed to field a team in the U-21 league in one match" - Pete
"He's living off the back of work that others have done" - Doolin
"He was left the club in a good condition - not as bad a condition as I picked it up in after a 6-0 beating in Dalymount" - Doolin. Course, the game before that, we'd been top of the league. So maybe it was a good condition Doolin found it in?
"If Paul's wife and kids are being abused, why does he not do something about it? Is it because he comes first and nothing else matters?" - Pete
"I stand over what I said about the players still recovering from his time here. He would only have to ask them to know that for himself" - Pete
"If you look at that UCD team out there, you wlil see that most of them were at the club when I was in charge" - Doolin. Even though 8 of the 16 players in the squad were signed by Mahon. And three of the others (plus Tony Mac) had European experience, so could hardly be that bad.
Methinks the fanzine is going to have a field day with this!
I think Mahon's comment is top notch about if Roddy Collins said these things he would be concerned! A great response seen as Roddy talks out of his arse most of the time! Love it!
county til i die
From a 'senior club official':
"We always knew Doolin thought like this. He had no time for the scholarship system, no time for the students... A bad egg."
- my best recllection from the conversation, not verbatum.
You can't spell failure without FAI
All a bit of a storm in a teacup really though.
We're not arrogant, we're just better.
Decided to put three pages in the fanzine about it - taking Doolin's argument apart bit by bit. Went down rather well...! Even Jimmy Magee bought one and had a bit of a laugh...Tony Mac even accused me of starting the whole thing with the programme article last week (comparing the records of all the managers)!
Thank you!
Anyone see the Shels-Lille match on the telly? Doolin was on assistant comentary, and was saying that the Shels players were looking a little tired, which was hardly surprising after playing so many European games. After the match, Roddy Collins, apparently a Mahon sympathiser, called this rubbish and said that Doolin was plain wrong. Most undiplomatic talk - there were many at Belfield tonight who reckon Doolin's comments had something to do with the way Collins reacted.
Dick Shakespeare was rung up by the papers as well for quotes - ranted for a long while, called Doolin every name under the sun and actually had atbloids asking if they could quote him! Didn't in the end (unless the Sun, which had a bigger piece than the other papers, mentioned anything).
Last edited by pineapple stu; 18/09/2004 at 12:43 AM.
You're very welcome! We also managed to get a chant of "There's only one Pete Mahon" going, especially for Doolo..
Upwards to the vanguard where the pressure is too high.
Doolin's rant unseemly, for Pete's sake
Emmet Malone / On Soccer
Last week's spat between Paul Doolin and Pete Mahon was not only one of the more venomous altercations witnessed between league managers in recent times but also one of the more bizarre.
The dispute seemed to kick off with Mahon's comments before the first FAI Cup meeting between UCD and Drogheda United to the effect that there were still players at Belfield "getting over" Doolin's time at the club. These comments were a surprise from a man who is normally at pains to observe all the usual respectful niceties before a game of any consequence.
Still, Doolin's response in the wake of the replay was, to say the least, a little disproportionate with the United boss declining to stop at merely questioning Mahon's "professionalism" but going on to display utter contempt for a man who has contributed a huge amount to the game here.
The ferocity of his post-match tirade in United Park last Monday may have stunned those who heard it but some of those who know Doolin were not all that surprised. He is not, they say, a man to take criticism lightly.
Two days later, as he prepared for Friday's game against Longford, he did not give the slightest hint of regret over his comments and while he conceded some of the players at Belfield may not have liked him he described such difficulties as no more than one of professional football's many occupational hazards.
That seems fair enough although his assertion he left UCD in good shape - they were doomed to relegation with just two wins and 12 points from 20 games - is more questionable.
True, he had previously kept them up and had helped to bring several good players through to the first team. But by the time he left for United Park there was considerable concern behind the scenes at the apparent lack of priority given to the youth development side of things.
The basic problem, it seems, was Doolin, a man who had enjoyed huge success as a player, was somewhat out of place at a club driven more by a philosophy of playing than any great ambition.
Their lack of support may make them unpopular in many quarters but UCD have done much for the league, producing a succession of players who have gone on to have good league careers while also, in many cases, providing them with a good education.
The club has also been well run down the years, eschewing the traditional Irish club cycle of boom and bust, meeting their commitments without the regular, and sometimes very public difficulties over wages or creditors that regularly afflict even the country's most professional outfits.
United are just one of many clubs with a chequered past in this department but the present board have displayed a determination to consign such problems to the past by providing the necessary infrastructure and funding.
It is an environment in which Doolin has clearly thrived. He has spent considerable money overhauling the squad and 12 of the players are now full-time professionals. He puts his budget at just under 12,000 a week, very much at the lower end of Premier Division expenditure, and while some would argue it must be higher, no one argues United are paying out anything like Shelbourne or Bohemians and yet they are right up there challenging with the two big Dublin clubs.
The club's training facilities are being dramatically improved and an announcement on the move to a new purpose-built stadium a few miles outside the town is due in weeks. Drogheda United look to be finally going somewhere and the evidence so far is Doolin is well equipped to take them there.
Back at Belfield, however, Mahon hasn't done badly since taking over a team well on the way to being relegated. His impact was immediate with the team securing five wins and seven draws from their last 16 games. Not quite enough to keep them up but it was a close enough thing.
The budget for wages is down a quarter now but UCD, second in the First Division, are in a strong position to bounce straight back to the top flight having established a six-point lead over fourth-placed Kildare County.
And by the official estimates of the respective clubs Mahon's budget is under half what Doolin is spending up at United Park.
So once again, Mahon has shown that his abilities deserve a little respect too.
© The Irish Times
Collins also laid into Doolin in his column in the Star on Sunday (incidentally a crap paper but gives the best coverage to the EL on Sunday) and spoke glowingly of Mahon mentioning his experience and hard work at all levels of the domestic game.
Posting Permissions
Bookmarks