Ryan shrugs off World Cup woe to lead Saints fight
RYAN BERTRAND has overcome World Cup heartbreak to become the Bear Grylls of Southampton’s survival school.
When the chips are down, Grylls can build a nice campfire out of driftwood – but even he would have struggled to generate any warmth out of Bertrand’s hard-luck story.
Somewhere in England coach Gareth Southgate’s headlong rush to promote youth, Bertrand has found himself shunted down the pecking order to fifth-choice left-back behind Danny Rose, Luke Shaw, Ben Chilwell and Ashley Young.
When Rose made the cut for Russia, after just 10 Premier League appearances last term, he admitted he was the “luckiest” member of the squad and said: “Had I been in Ryan’s shoes, I would have been angry.”
Then, through a combination of injury and Danish powerhouse Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s form, Bertrand lost the Saints captaincy after Ralf Hasenhuttl (right) took charge of the St Mary’s rabbit hutch.
Amid the frustration, Bertrand (above) – who picked up a Champions League winner’s medal with Chelsea seven years ago – has kept his standards high.
And as Hojbjerg’s expert finish bagged Southampton a priceless away win, the England discard gave Hasenhuttl’s methods a ringing endorsement, which also sounded suspiciously like a damning commentary on the last days of predecessor Mark Hughes’s reign.
He said: “We feel ourselves getting better. The manager has come in and given us a clear identity, and he leaves no stone unturned. There aren’t people questioning each other, asking what to do.
“When there’s arguments now, they are genuine because everyone understands their role.
“When we haven’t done it right, it’s easy to tell people off. I’ve been around football for a little while now and the way he trains, the way he works, and the way we have taken to his approach, we’ve got more than enough to stay in this league.”
Bertrand was among the survivors who held his nerve when Saints cheated the drop 12 months ago, and he has been a valiant trooper again despite the pain of being excluded from Southgate’s creme de la Kremlin.
He added: “There are always plenty of setbacks in a career – missing out on the World Cup was obviously a big one but the manager had a decision to make and he made it.
“When you reach the end of your career, if you can look back and have more positives to counter the negatives, that’s all you can ask for.”
One more win will probably be enough for Saints to stay up, but on Friday night former Saints striker Sadio Mane will be lying in wait if title-chasing Liverpool ever make it through the Friday night traffic on the M3. Bertrand grinned: “Good ol’ Sad – he’s showing no sign of slowing down, is he?
“We are fighting for points and they are fighting for the title, so it should be very competitive.”