Almost five years following his exit, Ryan Bertrand singled out one moment that cut short his Southampton stay somewhat earlier.
The recent Jeffrey Schlupp miss might seem insignificant to the fans but let's be honest, things could have gone worse before, and they can easily go again. Earlier, the struggle was about finding a Ryan Bertrand successor, but Kyle Walker-Peters made everyone forget that by fitting seamlessly into the playing eleven.
Now, the very man who eased Bertrand's St. Mary's exit walked down the same path months ago. Unless someone starts stepping up at right-back like Walker-Peters initially did on the opposite flank, the Saints defence is set to become a lengthy round of musical chairs.
Different faces getting called up for the same position every matchday, and it's upto the coach to somehow get points and let the fans ignore those rotation aspects.
Yet, the players can't just call it a bad day and move on easily, at least not everyone. For top performers like Bertrand, it's a matter of being labelled not useful enough and that's where it's the end of the road for the individual and the team.
Hassenhuttl preferred out of position players over Bertrand
In 2021, the ex-Three Lions hero also did that by running down his contract which might've been postponed if not for a rigid mistake on former coach Ralph Hassenhuttl's part. In all honesty, he was one of the most consistent Southampton coaches who kept masking the relegation reality for a couple of years before giving up.
However, his team selection would be quite odd at times and even Bertrand couldn't avoid hiding one moment, which bothered him. Talking to Business of Sport, Bertrand said about Hassenhuttl: "He was playing people like, Moussa Djenepo, he was playing him left back. He was playing Kevin Danso left back. Like centre backs left back, wingers left back, anything to kind of provoke a reaction out of me."
Plus, the irony was Danso and Djenepo never quite came good in a Southampton shirt. Hence, it's a takeaway for present boss Will Still to stay away from dressing room rifts because no one emerges a winner this way, and it's the club which ultimately loses it's sporting status on the pitch.