The Big Interview: Jan Molby

Gerrard retired from international football as England captain after this summer's World Cup, most to probably to prolong his club career with the only team for him.

The 34-year-old has been devoted to Liverpool ever since signing pro forms in November 1997 and has skippered the side for 11 years, writes Craig Birch.

He's Captain Fantastic in the eyes of all Reds fans and will hang up his boots a legend, whenever he decides that's going to be.

He's also a mean penalty taker, the joint fourth best in Premier League history with 24. He came within a kick of a hat-trick of these at Manchester United in March.

And that's where big similarities with Molby, the man to put on the spot for Liverpool in his time with the club from 1984 to 1996.

The Danish midfielder scored a total of 62 goals, 42 of which were from penalties, a club-record scored by a Liverpool player, although Gerrard has now equalled him in all competitions.

On only three occasions did his kick miss. He missed two in 1985-86, facing Sheffield Wednesday and Queens Park Rangers respectively, and one against Chelsea in 1989-90.

He did manage to score a hat-trick of penalties in one game, as Coventry City can testify after a League Cup fourth round tie in November 1986.

There's reason to believe the 51-year-old inspired a young Gerrard in that area and it was not the last time their paths would cross.

Molby said: "I got a hat-trick of penalties against Coventry City and we won that game 3-1. Then, in March, Steven Gerrard has the chance to do the same at Manchester United.

"You look at his statistics and he scores 87 per cent of his penalties, I often wondered how I would measure up against that. There were links between the two of us.

"The Coventry game was famous, for that, because that's the first time that Steven watched Liverpool play. Then there was my last game for the club, in the reserves.

"I was coming back from injury and I played in the mini-derby against Everton. I broke down not long into the game and it was a young Steven who came on to replace me.

"At the time, if you had told me what he would go onto become, I wouldn't have believed you. I thought that, when his apprentice terms were over, Liverpool would have released him.

"I had no idea what was coming. He had been unbelievable from ages 12 to 14, but it hadn't happened for him yet. You got to know these young kids when you were there."

The nearest thing to a blotch on Gerrard's Liverpool copybook was nearly leaving for Chelsea in 2006. At one point, he even asked to leave.

He was 25 when the then-Premier League champions bid £32million, with surety they had turned the player's head.

The long-standing argument of whether Gerrard and Frank Lampard can play in the same team would have raged at club and international level, had that happened. It was a risky move.

In the end, Gerrard had a change of heart and decided to stay. And Molby claims all it took was someone at Liverpool to assure him he still had a place there.

He still retained a decent enough relationship with the upper echelons of power at Anfield to be in the know and revealed it was Steve Morgan, now Wolves owner, who played a big part.

He said: "I have always liked Wolves and I know Steve well, as he's a big Liverpool fan. He was actually the one guy who stepped in when Steven Gerrard was going to Chelsea.

"All it took for him to stay was the club to say they still wanted him and Steve got everyone together to tell them that.

"They included Rick Parry, who was chief executive officer at the time, and the manager, which was Rafa Benitez. You have to give Steve a lot of credit for that."

Gerrard has reached levels of popularity that Molby could only dream of, but he remains popular after 12 years of service.

His path to England could have come long before he signed in 1984, but two years in Holland with Ajax came first after leaving home-town club Kolding, who he captained aged just 19.

He said: "All I ever wanted to do was play for my Kolding, who were non-league, and for Denmark. I never really aspired to become anything more than that.

"I wanted a little bit of life, as well, but I still loved the game. Ian Rush used to ask me 'why England?' All of the money to be made was in Italy.

"I had always dreamed of lifting a trophy at Wembley. I got the chance to do that with Liverpool in the 1986 FA Cup final, although I had played there for Denmark against England.

"As a foreign player, I would watch Liverpool, as they were one of the most successful clubs in the world. But there's something about Ajax.

"It's one of those names that everybody knows and I still always get asked what it was like. But the reality is they sign you, make you a better player and then sell you.

"To be fair to the club, they always asked you if there was anywhere you would like to go. I just said, if at all possible, I would like to go to England.

"I could have joined Ipswich Town in 1981, Bobby Robson tried to sign me, but I knew I was too young at the time, as I was only 17 and still playing in Denmark.

"When 1984 came along, I was an experienced international player and ready to make the move, so Ajax informed all of the top-flight clubs in England.

"Three came back to Ajax and made an offer. They were Crystal Palace, Sheffield Wednesday and Manchester City. I did verbally agree a three-year contract with Sheffield.

"I was at the airport in Manchester waiting to meet the Wednesday manager, Howard Wilkinson, when Ajax got a phone call from Liverpool.

"They had sold Graeme Souness to Sampdoria and were looking for a replacement, but they were only prepared to offer me a 10-day trial. There were no guarantees.

"I rang Howard to explain the situation and, even then, he told me to jump on a train if Liverpool didn't want me. I knew I could play, but even I didn't know if I was good enough for them."

It looked plain sailing, at first, for Molby as he instantly made his debut in a 3-3 draw away to Norwich City on 25 August 1984.

His first goal came at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea that December, but it was in a 3-1 defeat for a poor side that season, as Liverpool failed to win a trophy for the first time since 1975.

When Joe Fagan made way for new player-manager Kenny Dalglish in 1985-86, he turned to Molby as a regular and wasn't disappointed.

His best season in a Liverpool shirt produced 21 goals from midfield and a starring role, as the Reds claimed bragging rights in the first-ever all Merseyside FA Cup final.

Everton had pushed them close for the league title and led at half-time through Gary Lineker's strike, before Molby took command.

He had a hand in both goals from Ian Rush, either side of setting up Craig Johnston for the second as they claimed the double.

He remained a fixture in the team for 1986-87, but Liverpool could only finish second in the league and lost in the League Cup final to Arsenal at Wembley.

It undoubtedly went downhill from there, starting when he suffered a foot injury in the following pre-season, just as John Barnes' arrival on the wing pushed Ronnie Whelan into central midfield.

He was handed an opportunity in defence for the 1988-89 season through a long-term injury to Alan Hansen, after Dalglish had previously used him as a sweeper.

His future was in real jeopardy when, with the season just two months old, he was sentenced to three months' imprisonment for reckless driving. The club decided to stand by him.

He returned in January 1989 in Hansen's continued absence, but suffered another injury in March which kept him out for the rest of the campaign.

Something happened that April that made all of his problems pale into insignificance and changed the club forever. The Hillsborough disaster.

Molby, along with his team-mates, attended a number of the 96 victims funerals and admitted Liverpool has never been the same.

He said: "I always tell people Hillsborough isn't something I think about every day. But from time to time, you do think about it.

"I don't think you forget where you were that day. I was injured, but I was at Hillsborough. I was unaware, until hours later, what had happened.

"It was a terrible tragedy. It's one that the city is still struggling to recover from."

After that, never again would he be one of the first names on the team-sheet season on season, although the club could never bring themselves to get rid of him, either.

His position was getting desperate towards the end. Over the first three seasons of the Premier League, he made just 30 appearances.

By 1995-96, the writing was on the wall when boss Roy Evans loaned him out to Barnsley and then Norwich, where his Liverpool story had began. That February, he finally called time.

He said: "Players who came to the club typically spent six to 12 months in the reserves, observing and learning the Liverpool way. I made my debut three days later, at Norwich.

"Everyone knows what the first cup final meant to me, I was regular in the team for up to a year after and then I started to pick up injuries.

"It was tough for me to get my place back, I had problems and I never really got back the momentum I had picked up.

"But for any player to stay at any club for 12 years tells us something. There were great moments during my time at Anfield. We won three titles, three FA Cups and one League Cup.

"I played in an amazing Ajax team with Johan Cruyff, the best Demmark team ever and a very successful Liverpool team. I have some great memories."

On his best day, Molby could be a genial figure on the pitch and a lot of people in the know thought he had the brains for management.

There were still takers for him to prolong his playing career upon leaving Liverpool, Ron Atkinson the first to move on behalf of Coventry City, who were still in the Premier League.

He turned down that move to become player-manager of Swansea City, then in the bottom tier of the Football League, in February 1996. Still only 32, he was the youngest boss in the pyramid.

It started well, taking the Swans to Wembley for a losing effort in the play-off final against Northampton Town, losing in the last minute to John Frain's last minute goal.

But a poor start to the following season saw him sacked by October 1997 and he had to wait nearly two years for another chance.

It saw him drift into non-league for the first time since starting out. From Kolding to Kidderminster Harriers, as he settled in the West Midlands from April 1999.

He took them into the Football League, with former Liverpool team-mate Mike Marsh pulling the strings in midfield after Molby had even considered dusting off his own boots.

He said: "My strength was reading the game and passing the ball. I knew football well and thought that translated into management. Swansea gave me that chance.

"When Kidderminster first approached me, I told them I didn't want to work as a non-league manager, but they convinced me to go down.

"I met with the club and they sold the place to me, I wanted to make a go of it. To be successful, we had to be as ready as we could possibly be. For a part-time side, we were super fit.

"I put together a good team, the players just didn't believe it, but we started to win games. In my mind, we needed someone to glue it all together.

"I was even thinking about coming out of retirement, as I was only 36 at the time, because it was what we needed. I started to try and get myself fit.

"But then I remembered I had played with Mike Marsh for Liverpool. He had retired and took an insurance pay out, so couldn't play in the pro game.

"I called him and said 'Marshy, you are the only player I need.' We went 23 games unbeaten from the day he signed and won the Conference."

Two seasons of stability where had previously performed with Swansea followed, before Hull City turned his head and forced his exit.

He probably rues the day he ever went to Humberside and proved the old adage you should never go back. A return to Harriers in October 2003 ended with his resignation a year later.

The one highlight was drawing Wolves in the FA Cup third round, who were nearly dumped out at Aggborough before Alex Rae's 89th minute equaliser. They lost the replay 3-0.

Molby said: "I am a bit of an elitist, I don't like going into competitions I can't win and I wasn't going to be lifting the FA Cup again. But then we drew Wolves and everyone got excited.

"We gave it a pop when they came to Aggborough and we drew 1-1, Wolves scoring with a minute left. Financially, that was the right result for us.

"We went to Molineux in front of around 26,000 for the replay and it was great revenue for the club, regardless of the result. That was probably the highlight of my second spell there.

"The cup run put some much-needed money into the club's coffers, but the set-up was different from the first time I was there. It was just not the same, but it had its moments.

"I enjoyed management and working with the players, but it's not for me anymore. My life has gone in a different direction."

Jan Molby was the star attraction for 'An Evening With' at Wolverhampton's Cleveland Arms, on Stowheath Lane. They next host Ron Atkinson on Thursday September 25.