I hear violins

Once again the Mirror has surpassed itself in it`s love in with Kieron Dyer, issuing a cringe worthy interview on how the former bad boy has changed his ways. Rather than tackle the topical issues of the time (lack of defenders/midfield selection posers/weak-as-water forward line) they seem to sidestep the hot potato fantastically and instead take time out to humour our 80k a week millstone as he says sorry for totally undermining SBR:

On Sir Bobby:

"I still feel incredibly guilty about the way I let him down . The players at Newcastle used to call me 'Bobby's Son' because he would give me special treatment and the odd day off to go back home to Ipswich and I let him down massively. He was sacked soon after which made it all a hundred times worse. I should never have done it. I was just young and naive and stupid. It's something I will have to live with for the rest of my life and I'm thankful that when I rang him after he was fired, he accepted my apology. He said I was one of the only players from the club to have phoned him, but I still feel dreadful I did something like that to a man with his status. When I went out to the World Cup in Germany, I saw him at the England v Portugal game and sat with him for most of the match - and he still had all the old enthusiasm. I'm glad we're still on speaking terms. The way I acted, it would be fully deserved if he never spoke to me again. He has put the grudges behind him which goes to show what a great man he is."

On the 'pressures` of too much, too young:

"I'm a lad from Ipswich. We were a poor family and then I moved to Newcastle and it's like a religion and suddenly you are doing well and everyone is saying how great you are. You have got money and you can buy anything you want and it seems that you are more worried about maintaining your status off the pitch than doing it for 90 minutes on the pitch. I believed the hype. I was rewarded with good wages and you do take your eye off the ball. You do get wrapped up in it. For two years I went stale. I wasted it. I had a couple of good games here and there but never had the consistency. Alan Curbishley came out with the Baby Bentley quote a couple of months ago and I do think what happened to me is happening to some of the West Ham players. When you're young, sometimes you have to learn the hard way. I have had to come full circle to get to where I am now."

On injuries and England:

"I was out of the game for 18 months with injuries and I want to make up for lost time. I want to be up there with the Stevie Gs and the Frank Lampards who do it week in and week out. Since then, I have really got my head down. I know I haven't played great every day but I have been working towards being more consistent and feel there is no limit to what I can achieve. I took football for granted. I thought it would go on forever. To be out for nearly two years, you itch to get back out there. The enthusiasm I have now, it feels like I am back at school. I just want to play all the time. I didn't used to like playing out wide because I was dependent on someone else giving me the ball and I wanted to be at the centre of things all the time.

But because of all the injuries we have had at Newcastle, it's meant I haven't played in the same position for two games on the bounce. I learned the hard way that the team is more important than individuals. Joey Barton got hammered for saying a lot of England players just go along for the ride and once they get in the squad they are happy but I recognised myself in what he said. Now, every time I get picked for the squad, that's not enough. I want to be in the England team. I want to reach the heights some people believe I can. I want to become an England regular. I've a lot to do. I'm making up for lost time. I have got my head down. It feels like I'm back at school. I want to play all the time"

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