Gavin Bazunu

[Lord Duckhunter]

Thank god he wasn’t playing for us yesterday. Ramsdale made 2 of 3 really good saves, and saved a couple of routine ones Baz would had let in. The 9 would have been on again.

If he’s in nets next year, it’ll be the biggest downgrade since John Lennon binned his Mrs for Yoko…

[aintforever]

11 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

I can pinpoint it. He has some of the worst positioning of any goalkeeper I've seen. He also can't claim a cross.

This. His positioning and anticipation are just awful. 

When you compare him to Ramsdale it’s like chalk and cheese. Where Ramsdale would be positioned correctly it would just be a simple save or block, same situation with Baz and he would be floundering around flapping like an idiot because he’s a couple of yards from where he should be stood - doesn’t look like an obvious keeper error when it goes in but it invariably is.

Xg stats are very crude but in Baz’s case they do paint the right picture.

Edited February 23 by aintforever

[Gloucester Saint]

For me, Bazanu not being #1 is a key early test of whether Spores and the new manager are going to be up to it.

I’ve never seen a less natural or obvious goalkeeper. 

[Galway saint]

12 hours ago, The Kraken said:

I keep hearing this but haven’t seen anything to suggest it’s true. It’s a bit like the nonsense of Dan Seabourne being a front sweeper.

His wiki page says his brother is a keeper too.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gavin_Bazunu

'He was initially a winger back in his Shamrock youth days, transitioning into a keeper later into his development'.

Quite from breaking the lines article in 2022. Can't copy the link for some reason 

The transition is proving glacial...

[S-Clarke]

35 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

I can pinpoint it. He has some of the worst positioning of any goalkeeper I've seen. He also can't claim a cross.

Yep, positioning, movement of feet, reading of the game, his physical presence impacting his ability to get down to corners - all absolutley critical attributes for a top level GK. They can't really be coached, so he's dead rubber.

Edited February 23 by S-Clarke

[Matthew Le God]

vs a team in the Champions League round of 16

This might be good however...

 

 

 

Edited February 23 by Matthew Le God

[Lord Duckhunter]

It’s nothing serious, he collapsed with shock when someone said “well played Baz”,that combined with him making a couple of saves got too much for him. It was just like Roger Osborne after scoring the winner in the 78 cup final. 

[Matthew Le God]

 

 

Edited February 26 by Matthew Le God

[Gloucester Saint]

Had a better couple of games there. Still a couple of errors that concern me which weren’t punished especially the weak push out back into the centre of the goal first up.

Mixed off his line but encouraging that he’s coming for crosses. 

Some good reaction saves and got better as the game went on after a shaky first couple of moments. Using his body a bit better. He should see if he can get hold of some clips of Peter Shilton. Shills wasn’t massive either, smaller than Bazanu but so smart with his positioning and developed a real aura.

Early days in terms of assessing a return next season. If he gets more consistent still than I’d say #2 to a more experienced keeper and settle up with McCarthy on his final year, another of Russell’s summer bloopers. McCarthy is too shot to be a first choice if Gavin improves and sustains it to claim #2. Alex is too contaminated by the last few years and this season especially. 

Edited February 26 by Gloucester Saint

[Saint in Paradise]

He is only worth what another team will pay to sign him. It doesn't matter a stuff what Saints paid and

quite frankly i doubt any team would offer more than one million, probably even less.

[Weston Super Saint]

3 hours ago, Saint in Paradise said:

He is only worth what another team will pay to sign him. It doesn't matter a stuff what Saints paid and

quite frankly i doubt any team would offer more than one million, probably even less.

So you're saying there's a chance?

[Danbert]

Bazunus loan has been terminated, and his appearances for Club Liege have been less than convincing.

https://sportwitness.co.uk/hasnt-been-reassuring-club-end-southampton-players-loan-early-saints-have-decision-to-make/

Assuming we loose Ramsdale, goalkeeper would be my priority position for strengthening this summer.

[Lord Duckhunter]

he ‘hasn’t been reassuring at all’
 

Fuck me, that’s good for Baz, must be in the form of his life…

[Oldandtired]

I really don't know why there's any debate on this.
 

He is not a good goalkeeper... end of.

[OldNick]

1 hour ago, Danbert said:

Bazunus loan has been terminated, and his appearances for Club Liege have been less than convincing.

https://sportwitness.co.uk/hasnt-been-reassuring-club-end-southampton-players-loan-early-saints-have-decision-to-make/

Assuming we loose Ramsdale, goalkeeper would be my priority position for strengthening this summer.

Another failure by RM and co. Had he not got injured he would have stayed as our No 1 and I feel we would not have been promoted. McCarthy came in and did well shoring up the defence

[Gloucester Saint]

8 minutes ago, OldNick said:

Another failure by RM and co. Had he not got injured he would have stayed as our No 1 and I feel we would not have been promoted. McCarthy came in and did well shoring up the defence

Although extending McCarthy for 2 years wasn’t bright either. Agree that we’d never have won the playoffs with Gavin in goal though.

Subsidised loan probably the best route to a lower Champ, League 1 club, no loan fee and pay 50% of wages to give him a full season of men’s football. Alternative is Martin gets the Norwich job and Gunn leaving in the summer on a free and no senior keepers….

[Scummer]

He has only come back early because he is injured and it's nearly the end of the season. He was first choice up to then. This shouldn't be seen as a defence of him, but let's keep our facts straight

[HKsaint]

Just return him to Skates, please.

[Dark Munster]

4 minutes ago, HKsaint said:

Just return him to Skates, please.

That’s what I want. It kills two birds with one stone. 

[Matthew Le God]

11 minutes ago, HKsaint said:

Just return him to Skates, please.

They couldn't afford his wages.

[Turkish]

1 hour ago, OldNick said:

Another failure by RM and co. Had he not got injured he would have stayed as our No 1 and I feel we would not have been promoted. McCarthy came in and did well shoring up the defence

Whose idea was it to sign him as first choice keeper in the premier league??!!!!

[OldNick]

2 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Whose idea was it to sign him as first choice keeper in the premier league??!!!!

I hae no idea, who was manager when we signed him, was Wilcox DOF when he came?

[Turkish]

2 minutes ago, OldNick said:

I hae no idea, who was manager when we signed him, was Wilcox DOF when he came?

Ralph and Joe Shields i believe.

[Matthew Le God]

2 minutes ago, OldNick said:

I hae no idea, who was manager when we signed him, was Wilcox DOF when he came?

Wilcox joined after we were relegated.

[gio1saints]

He is injured. 

[Gloucester Saint]

2 hours ago, Matthew Le God said:

They couldn't afford his wages.

If Martin does join Norwich, and wants Gavin on loan initially, then I’d have thought Saints would have to subsidise some of his wages anyway as their parachute payments run out. 

[Gloucester Saint]

1 hour ago, gio1saints said:

He is injured. 

He is, cartilage, although that’s not the feared injury it was in the 1970s and early 1980s thankfully with advances in sports and clinical science.

He’s still conceded 2 goals per game there and not a glowing report card from people watching the games overall. Not terrible either but nowhere near a Southampton shirt next season even given how bad we’ve been.

Subsidised loan to lower Champ or more likely League 1 where he’s had some success before is the way to go. He’s looked very skittish in Belgium and keeping every other week in a stadium which doesn’t hold happy memories won’t help him. Fresh start. 

[Appy]

He can’t be our goalkeeper next season, the bloke can’t save shots, which is a slight issue for a goalkeeper. Makes McCarthy look like Courtois. 

[HarvSFC]

Injury could be a blessing. I feared another Forster/McCarthy situation coming up this summer, when we were handicapped by having them both as our senior goalkeepers in the squad and on good wages that they wouldn't get elsewhere. This time, it would be Bazunu/McCarthy, but we just really need a new goalkeeper when Ramsdale inevitably goes and with Bazunu injured again, it could force our hand and make it a priority.

Or, we could ignore the goalkeeper situation once again and go into the season with McCarthy as the number one, just like we did this season before it became very apparent that McCarthy wasn't capable.

[qwertyell]

Mentioned it before, but Thomas Kaminski (32) would probably be available on the cheap if Luton went down - and he's a solid, experienced keeper who didn't disgrace himself when he went up to the Premier League.

Hull are still not safe. Their keeper Ivor Pandur is very decent as well. Only 25, so an investment in a player with plenty of time to develop. Again, if they're relegated, they might have to sell, and at a reasonable price.

The Leicester keeper Mads Hermansen (24) might come on the market now they're down and seemingly in the financial mire. Can we take advantage of that? He'd probably be the best keeper in the Championship.

[ApprenticeBillionaire]

LOL

I didn't even realise he was on loan at Standard Liege. I thought he was still here injured.

I completely missed that. LOL!

[ApprenticeBillionaire]

4 hours ago, Appy said:

He can’t be our goalkeeper next season, the bloke can’t save shots, which is a slight issue for a goalkeeper. Makes McCarthy look like Courtois. 

Keeper situation has been our ENTIRE problem for fucking YEARS.

We haven't had a decent keeper since Niemi or Prime Forster a decade ago.

I read somewhere a good keeper is worth something like 9 - 12pts a season.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

30 minutes ago, ApprenticeBillionaire said:

LOL

I didn't even realise he was on loan at Standard Liege. I thought he was still here injured.

I completely missed that. LOL!

That also seems to be the problem with Baz, too. 🙂

[Lighthouse]

2 minutes ago, ApprenticeBillionaire said:

Keeper situation has been our ENTIRE problem for fucking YEARS.

We haven't had a decent keeper since Niemi or Prime Forster a decade ago.

I read somewhere a good keeper is worth something like 9 - 12pts a season.

Kind of puts us on -1 without Ramsdale.

[benali-shorts]

In the annals of our recent post 1980s history, he is our worst expenditure as first team keeper. Let’s hope we move on. 

[Gloucester Saint]

1 hour ago, benali-shorts said:

In the annals of our recent post 1980s history, he is our worst expenditure as first team keeper. Let’s hope we move on. 

£12-15m which unlike for outfield players was still a significant outlay for a keeper at the time. 

Has never looked a natural goalkeeper in his positioning and presence around the box.

[HKsaint]

2 hours ago, ApprenticeBillionaire said:

I read somewhere a good keeper is worth something like 9 - 12pts a season.

No need to read somewhere. We have already proved it. 9-12 pts are what we have got this season. 

[gio1saints]

If Gavin is not fit for pre season (IF) then I agree with the idea of recruiting a new first choice keeper for next season. IF he is fit then actual pre season should determine if he stays or if he goes. He is young still for a keeper don’t forget. 

With all due respect to AM -and GB frankly - especially a big “Thank You “ for the play off performances AM and to Gav for his crucial part in the unbeaten run and the fundamental “Russball” approach that got us up - but they have both trousered a lot of money whilst at SFC for not actually doing much goalkeeping last few years. That criticism includes JL who, good bloke that he is, if he cannot displace AM week in week out in training, cannot be good enough either. 
 

Im fluid about all of it except the first basic requirement- if /when Aaron goes we need a top quality first team starting new goalie. Not a kid not a reserve not a potential. A straight into the team starter. 

 

Edited yesterday at 08:20 by gio1saints

[sambosa75]

Worst keeper I've ever seen for Saints.  Bar none.  I'd genuinely have Angus Gunn ahead of Bazunu.  "Oh but he's great with the ball at his feet..."  Put him in midfield then because he can't shot-stop to save his life.

[Whitey Grandad]

1 hour ago, sambosa75 said:

Worst keeper I've ever seen for Saints.  Bar none.  I'd genuinely have Angus Gunn ahead of Bazunu.  "Oh but he's great with the ball at his feet..."  Put him in midfield then because he can't shot-stop to save his life.

The longer he doesn’t play for us the worse he gets apparently.

He played the major part of a season that saw us promoted.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

2 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

The longer he doesn’t play for us the worse he gets apparently.

He played the major part of a season that saw us promoted.

He was a key part of RussBall, remaining cool under lots of daft pass backs. More broadly, when he was injured, you could see the defence able to ping it about, built on the efforts of Baz who had given them a foundation. McCarthy benefited from that in those final games.

Ideally, you'd want a defence as comfortable with possession that Baz was helping with plus the shot stopping all round game of Ramsdale. It's that shot stopping that lets Baz down. Even if some of that is perception/ preference for having a more physical 'keeper, the goals conceded seem to back that up.

Wherever Martin ends up, he'd do really well to take Baz and Will with him. Both key in RussBall. Hopefully Baz develops his all round game. You can see why City had him, and why areas of his game are excellent fits for possession systems. Just possibly not enough of them at PL level yet.

[Dman]

38 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

The longer he doesn’t play for us the worse he gets apparently.

He played the major part of a season that saw us promoted.

We wouldn't have been promoted if he was in goal all season. Terrible goal keeper. 

[AlexLaw76]

Crap keeper

[Sheaf Saint]

1 hour ago, Whitey Grandad said:

The longer he doesn’t play for us the worse he gets apparently.

He played the major part of a season that saw us promoted.

He also played a major part in us conceding 63 goals that season - 20 more than the team in 3rd place.

If we'd had a competent shot-stopper in goal, we may well have got automatic promotion.

Edited yesterday at 10:41 by Sheaf Saint

[Whitey Grandad]

25 minutes ago, Dman said:

We wouldn't have been promoted if he was in goal all season. Terrible goal keeper. 

You cannot possibly say that. It might be more accurate to say that we wouldn’t have been in the playoffs without him in goal. As a goalkeeper he is nothing special but he’s not as bad as some of you make him out to be.

It was the move away from Russball that made the difference.

[Whitey Grandad]

1 minute ago, Sheaf Saint said:

He also played a major part in us conceding 63 goals that season - 20 more than the team in 3rd place.

And? What’s your point, if you have one? We finished in the playoffs. That’s all that counts.

[Sheaf Saint]

2 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

And? What’s your point, if you have one? We finished in the playoffs. That’s all that counts.

Yes, we finished in the playoffs, because we conceded far too many goals for a team aiming for automatic promotion. And many of those goals were the direct result of GB being a very poor shot-stopper who seemingly can't save anything that isn't straight at him.

[Gloucester Saint]

16 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

You cannot possibly say that. It might be more accurate to say that we wouldn’t have been in the playoffs without him in goal. As a goalkeeper he is nothing special but he’s not as bad as some of you make him out to be.

It was the move away from Russball that made the difference.

Your last sentence has some truth to it, but the injury in part forced Martin’s hand.

He’s just conceded 15 in only 8 games for one of Belgium’s biggest clubs in a much weaker league which indicates it’s not just an SFC defensive issue or style of play. He’s worse than average and his age has to stop being an excuse for not saving routine shots at his goal. Saints must buy a Ramsdale replacement and loan Gavin out, even if it’s heavily subsidised. He’s a liability.

Edited yesterday at 10:57 by Gloucester Saint

[Whitey Grandad]

16 minutes ago, Gloucester Saint said:

Your last sentence has some truth to it, but the injury in part forced Martin’s hand.

He’s just conceded 15 in only 8 games for one of Belgium’s biggest clubs in a much weaker league which indicates it’s not just an SFC defensive issue or style of play. He’s worse than average and his age has to stop being an excuse for not saving routine shots at his goal. Saints must buy a Ramsdale replacement and loan Gavin out, even if it’s heavily subsidised. He’s a liability.

I completely agree that we need better but I would prefer him in goal to McCarthy.

you cannot isolate a goalkeeper’s performance from the team that’s in front of him. He may be playing in a weaker league but doesn’t that also make mean that the defences are weaker?

[Lighthouse]

26 minutes ago, Sheaf Saint said:

Yes, we finished in the playoffs, because we conceded far too many goals for a team aiming for automatic promotion. And many of those goals were the direct result of GB being a very poor shot-stopper who seemingly can't save anything that isn't straight at him.

And yet somehow the number of goals we conceded went up from 1.3 to 1.8 per game, in the 5 games after Bazunu got injured.