In the public mind, Kieron Dyer came to symbolise so much of what was self-destructive about a group of football players known collectively as the 'Baby Bentley generation'.

Nicknamed 'The King of Bling' by the tabloid press, Dyer was caught up in many of the scandals that characterised the history of a talented crop of players who promised so much and delivered so little, a generation whose wages and lavish lifestyles began to alienate them from the fans.

But Dyer's story is far more than one-dimensional tale of episodic excesses. It is a portrait of the changing face of the national game, where old school traditions and the rule of patriarchal managers collided with the power of the brash new breed of players in emboldened by their spiralling salaries.

Dyer narrates, in unsparing detail, how he and a generation of gifted English footballers, taken out of working class childhoods and presented with a world of glitz, glamour, wealth and temptation, failed to cope with the riches that were presented to them, and often fell apart.

Old Too Soon, Smart Too Late is about a moment in time, a social and historical record of English football at the start of its gold rush. For Dyer, there is a measure of personal redemption and peace. But for the English game, there is only a lingering sense of waste and regret for an opportunity lost.