Tommy Mooney / Tommy Mooney / 23 October 2008 / Leave a comment

Tommy Mooney considers life after football, his best referees, Uriah Rennie's boot deal and Liverpool's modern talisman in the build-up to Sunday's big game.

There's not a footballer in the world who really wants to consider what they might be doing when they retire; but at 37, I'd be foolish not to start thinking about it.

I said right from the start, when I was first making plans to come over here, that I'd like to get into the stuff that happens on the other side of the white line as well as retaining a strong playing interest in the club.

The English owners are keen for me to get involved in the commercial side of things but we were all hoping for a stronger season, playing wise, and progress off the field in the shape of increased interest in the area through higher attendances.

Opportunities such as the one I've got at UD Marbella don't come up all that often and I am very keen to add some strings to my bow. I've made no secret of the fact I'd like to get into coaching at some stage, but I think to have the chance to get some commercial experience - the idea being I'd be promoting the club to both locals and English-speaking ex-pats out here - is a valuable and ultimately transferable skill-set.

So those things are there on the horizon but, for now, my priority remains forcing my way into the manager's plans on a more regular basis to help drive the team performance forward.

Last week I actually picked up my first yellow card for the club. Do you know what, I've never been so delighted to get booked in my life because it shows my Spanish is coming on nicely!
It got me thinking of refereeing back in England and some of the standards set during my career. The best - and by that I suppose I mean most consistent - refs I experienced were Terry Heilbron and Dermot Gallagher. You probably haven't heard of Terry but isn't that just the point?

As for Dermot, he reffed me so many times we actually became almost friends over the years. During his last season, he asked for my Wycombe match shirt which I was happy to give him as a memento for his collection. I don't think you'd get any of the self-professed big names making such humble requests these days.

Both Terry and Dermot had to retire due to reaching the age limit. How ridiculous. Surely as long as your standards are still high, that's good enough?

As for the other end of the scale, Uriah Rennie is the only referee I've ever come across with a boot deal and an agent. That says it all really, doesn't it? His style of refereeing suggest he wants to be a schoolteacher but isn't educated enough. I think there's a control thing going on there somewhere. Anyway, I reckon you've got to have a personality disorder of sorts to actually want to become a referee!

I see it's Chelsea v Liverpool this weekend, just about early enough I hope for me to watch it before reporting for our home match on Sunday evening. Liverpool as a club, is a name that throws up memories of great talismanic figures of the past like Tommy Smith, Kevin Keegan, Kenny Dalglish and Ian Rush. They are the sort of figures Liverpool lacked in the 1990s which marks Steven Gerrard as a cut above the rest.

He could play any outfield role going, he's that good a player. What you get out of him that not all the other big names provide is goals - and not just any old goals, important goals in important games at important times. He's clearly Liverpool's talisman of the modern generation and all great Liverpool sides had that figure.

Chelsea's top form aside, I think Liverpool have been up there with them as the best team this season. They've been the two most consistent so far. Take last weekend, when Liverpool came back from trailing to win - that's a great sign of added steel for them. And Chelsea's play at Middlesbrough was awesome. Totally in control throughout, never a doubt about the result.

Teams that go to Stamford Bridge for a draw normally get badly beaten. I know Rafa Benitez isn't cavalier but they'll have a go I think and, on the back of European matches in the week, I reckon it'll be more open than many might expect. I can understand why Unders is [1.74] but the odds of [2.4] to back Over 2.5 goals look quite generous to me.

I know from personal experience that strikers tend to score in runs and I don't think Robbie Keane is an exception that rule. With Fernando Torres still out, back him in the To Score list to keep his run going at about [4.5].

I can't see Chelsea giving up this long unbeaten record just yet, so lay Liverpool with confidence to [5.1].