Bertrand's fond memories of loan spell
Ryan Bertrand, who is starring for Great Britain in the Olympic Games, hasn't forgot his roots.The 22-year-old left-sided player, who was also a recent Champions League matchwinner with Chelsea, remains grounded despite the recent meteoric rise in his career.
Bertrand, who made 24 appearances for Latics during a half-season loan in 2007/08, says the experience gained at Boundary Park has held him in good stead.
He explained: "I had a fantastic time at Oldham and wouldn't change it for anything.
"Everybody has their own individual path to go down and I am really happy with mine.
"I was at Gillingham before I joined Chelsea so I knew what it was like on the other side as I know at Chelsea it can sometimes be different from the real side of football.
"I also always had an upbringing when I was taught to keep my feet on the ground."
Bertrand has had loan spell with Bournemouth, Latics, Norwich, Reading and Nottingham Forest to gain experience as his opportunities have been limited at Chelsea where he is Ashley Cole's understudy.
He admitted it has been an amazing couple of months after making his Champions League debut in the final against Bayern Munich.
And that was followed by a place in Team GB for the Olympics which Bertrand says are extra special to him.
He said: "It has been crazy spell and the icing will be to win gold to go with the Champions League medal.
"The Olympics are fantastic as far as I am concerned as I was born and brought up in Bermondsey which is not far from the Stadium.
"It has been a good experience to be taking part and great to be staying in the Village to see how other athletes prepare. The apartments also offers great views over London.
"I was just disappointed I didn't play against United Arab Emirates (he was an unused substitute having played the whole game against Senegal at Old Trafford) as I am from London."
And having collected four points from their first two matches, Bertrand says Team GB has an excellent chance of progressing to the quarter finals.
* Another former Latics player is also a member of the Team GB football team, ex-Centre of Excellence player Micah Richards.