Tommy Mooney always knew that Troy Deeney would make a big impact on the Premier League when he got into his stride.

The pair first met when Mooney joined Walsall in 2007 and he was asked by the Saddlers manager Richard Money to take the 19-year-old under his wing.

In a wide-ranging interview for Tales from the Vicarage volume four, Mooney talks about that first meeting as well as lifting the lid on his own time at Watford.

“The manager [Money] told me he had this lad who reminded him of me. I took that to mean brawn, power and very little technique,” Mooney joked. “I think he was being complimentary to me because Troy was a little bit better than I expected him to be.

“I was towards the end of my career and I had learned a bit about the game, and about forward play, so I tried to help him a bit. He’s not got a great deal of pace – although he’s quicker than I was – but he’s so powerful and over five yards he can get in front of anyone and make a chance. He’s got a lot in his locker that he can cause any defence trouble.

“We’ve kept in touch over the years, even though I work at Aston Villa and he’s a massive Birmingham fan. He has made mistakes in his life, which we all know about, but I see him now and he’s learned from that and he’s become a man. I see him working and encouraging other players as the captain and that makes me very proud of him and I’ve told him that.”

The pair were reunited at the Tales from the Vicarage live event at Watford’s Palace Theatre when Deeney was a surprise guest.

And Mooney revealed that when Deeney overtook him in Watford’s all-time list of top scorers last season, Mooney braced himself for the inevitable text message. “I told him ‘Just remember who made you the player you are today’,” he joked.

Also in the chapter, Mooney talks about being released from Aston Villa by Graham Taylor, joining Watford on loan, enduring relegation, his conversion to centre back for a title-winning campaign, his incredible scoring streak that forced the team into the play-offs and why he took a screwdriver with him for the final at Wembley….

  • The four books in the Tales from the Vicarage series feature 44 original essays by 18 different writers, including several former Watford Observer journalists. All four volumes are available online at talesfrom.com/watford and The Hornets Shop online and in store at Vicarage Road. There are discounted prices on all the books for a limited period and all four together can be bought for £35.