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.