Gavin Bazunu

[S-Clarke]

17 minutes ago, Turkish said:

I wonder if anyone will quote the fact he's been statistically the worst keeper in the division for the second season running.

For a club which likes to pride it's self on following stats to gain the 'small percentages', I find it incredible that we're putting our fingers in our ears on these pretty conclusive Baznu stats, I hadn't realised just how bad they were this year. It's not like there's .1 in it or anything like that, you can't even moan about data quality as he is at least 4 goals worse than the nearest shit keeper and that is awful. 

There's no where to go with them, you can't fluff them up in any way. Statically he doesn't make saves at PL level or Champ level.

Edited 4 April, 2024 by S-Clarke

[Whitey Grandad]

7 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

For a club which likes to pride it's self on following stats to gain the 'small percentages', I find it incredible that we're putting our fingers in our ears on these pretty conclusive Baznu stats, I hadn't realised just how bad they were this year. It's not like there's .1 in it or anything like that, you can't even moan about data quality as he is at least 4 goals worse than the nearest shit keeper and that is awful. 

There's no where to go with them, you can't fluff them up in any way. Statically he doesn't make saves at PL level or Champ level.

“statistically”

🙄

[Lord Duckhunter]

1 hour ago, Turkish said:

I wonder if anyone will quote the fact he's been statistically the worst keeper in the division for the second season running.

There’s far more important things to discuss at the forum, like the catering & birds team. They won’t waste time on nonsense like the first team. 

[Miltonaggro]

1 hour ago, S-Clarke said:

For a club which likes to pride it's self on following stats to gain the 'small percentages', I find it incredible that we're putting our fingers in our ears on these pretty conclusive Baznu stats, I hadn't realised just how bad they were this year. It's not like there's .1 in it or anything like that, you can't even moan about data quality as he is at least 4 goals worse than the nearest shit keeper and that is awful. 

There's no where to go with them, you can't fluff them up in any way. Statically he doesn't make saves at PL level or Champ level.

This could be combined quite effectively with a high consensus of eye-witness testimony, perhaps close to 30,000. 

[Miltonaggro]

1 hour ago, Turkish said:

I wonder if anyone will quote the fact he's been statistically the worst keeper in the division for the second season running.

Martin might brave up now that Wilcox no longer has his probationary balls in the vice.  Thankfully we have the redoubtable Lumley to step in. 

[S-Clarke]

1 hour ago, Whitey Grandad said:

“statistically”

🙄

He does play pretty statically tbf.

[stknowle]

22 hours ago, Turkish said:

Just like strikers and centre backs our glovesman recruitment has been absolutely ridiculous for years. Signing Gunn for £10m when we already had Forster and McCarthy. Giving McCarthy a long term contract which made him one of the clubs highest paid players whilst never really being a competent keeper and is now third choice. Signing Lis then loaning him out, signing a keeper who had never played above league one level and expecting him to immediately become a premier league level keeper. Then having back up so bad you have to stick with him despite him being not up to the job, it’s an utter shambles when you look at it. How hard is it to pickup a fairly experienced and competent goal custodian that might make the odd point winning save?

A litany of incompetence stretching back over multiple seasons. I don’t want to bring seaside b&b’s into this but……..

[pimpin4rizeal]

15 hours ago, Galway saint said:

I think we will see a change on Saturday albeit given Lumley is said to be the worst QPR keeper in recent years it might be short lived…

Didnt get Baz get dropped at a similar stage of the season last year for being shit  ?

the other thing i really don’t get is when people say Baz has potential or will be at his peak in six years or so.

I’ve seen nothing since he joined us to suggest he will be a top level keeper. he doesn’t seem to have any of the attributes of a top level keeper but maybe someone who doesn’t make saves is the future of goalkeeping; a sort of anti-goalkeeper.

Exactly .. it’s funny how people always try to draw positives from the consistently picked shit players 

bazunu - great passer for a keeper 

elyounoussi - his off the ball work 

Adams - a good second striker,hold up play etc 

ita all a load of bollocks really all three suck hard and are totally incapable of doing the job we want from them 

if what we look for in a goalkeeper is someone who is comfortable on the ball and can pass well but totally incapable of saving anything you might as well play David Brooks there it’s that stupid .. 

[Sunglasses Ron]

12 minutes ago, pimpin4rizeal said:

if what we look for in a goalkeeper is someone who is comfortable on the ball and can pass well but totally incapable of saving anything you might as well play David Brooks there it’s that stupid .. 

Ewood Park announcer on Saturday...

"And for Southampton, Number 1 David Brooks...".

[pimpin4rizeal]

35 minutes ago, Sunglasses Ron said:

Ewood Park announcer on Saturday...

"And for Southampton, Number 1 David Brooks...".

Hehe well he would probably be equally useless at saving shots .. but would be an upgrade on the passing out from the back so why not 😆

[S-Clarke]

2 minutes ago, pimpin4rizeal said:

Hehe well he would probably be equally useless at saving shots .. but would be an upgrade on the passing out from the back so why not 😆

Could be an interesting experiment - stick an outfield player in goal for the next 8 games and see if we fare any worse.

[OldNick]

Note to the recruitment team, Don't buy a keeper from Man City as pep seems to know a good one

[Weston Super Saint]

3 hours ago, S-Clarke said:

 

There's no where to go with them, you can't fluff them up in any way. Statically he doesn't make saves at PL level or Champ level.

You can't fault his consistency though.

[OldNick]

22 hours ago, david in sweden said:

Agreed about Forster (Clarkie) and  the subsequent deal for McCarthy was much the same scenario, but goalkeepers take time to develop and very few young

goalies are good in the first season or two - sometimes longer. Perhaps Joe Hart was an exception and eventually made it to the England spot, likewise Pickford.

Getting a good young talented goalie on board is difficult when you have to say ..come and be our no.2 goalie - and we'll let you play a few Cup games.

In time Gunn became no. 1  at Norwich,  and Polish "Bart" was a disaster in most of Saints games, but has played for Championship sides for more than 10 years 

and it took Gazzaniga a few years to get a regular spot - anywhere.   I've always thought goalkeepers get better after 30 !, ..and it's often the case.

 

Signing Bazunu was a gamble, and Turkish also made the same point about signing Angus Gunn who was really out of his depth, and that 0-9 game finished him.

Burnley signed young Trafford (?) for 18 million and he's had big problems, (also from Man City,) but the transition from U21 or Championship to Premier League

is an enormous gap and is much greater than a mere 3 league places.  Last year's  3 promoted sides have struggled, but the relegated sides have flourished.  

Bazunu will improve.... but it may take time - if we can keep faith with him, but we need a first class coach to help him in that position. 

So we have for 2 seasons had to put up with the pain of constantly conceding in the hope he will improve. Of course once we've had to put up with all the crap for a few seasons he could nicely honed for another club who will get the positives. 

I truly hope Baz proves us wrong and starts to prove his worth, but I have pointed out for a long time he is not up to it (yet)and he cost us in tight games. 

[rooney]

On 03/04/2024 at 15:27, S-Clarke said:

You can go back a tiny bit further to the ridiculous re-contract of Fraser Forster, after he'd only just signed one. That financially lumbered us for years.

Our goal keeping recruitment has been bat shit crazy for many years now. If Rotherham can find Viktor Johanssson then why can't we find one of those? This 'finding the next young gem we can sell for a profit' approach is killing us dead.

IMO Antii Niemi was the last top class one we had.

[Convict Colony]

7 hours ago, Wade Garrett said:

If it’s so important for the keeper to be good with his feet, then put Shea Charles in goal.

It’s a ridiculous defence of Bazunu.  

Finally some original thinking.

I like this and could get behind this switch 🤣

[SaintsBarry74]

In summary, our no1 set a PL record last season for the highest negative xG ever recorded. This season, he's on track to repeat this performance in the Championship, heading towards the lowest xG ever recorded in the league.

Furthermore, our backup goalkeeper was the worst performer in the Championship last season, with an xG of -10.1 goals prevented, what is worse is that Baz has already done worse than Lumley and that's with eight games remaining.

I know it's insane to say this given the level we're playing and the money involved, but I don't believe it's too late for Baz to change to another position given his age. There's no fucking way this man is a goal keeper, period.

[S-Clarke]

26 minutes ago, SaintsBarry74 said:

In summary, our no1 set a PL record last season for the highest negative xG ever recorded. This season, he's on track to repeat this performance in the Championship, heading towards the lowest xG ever recorded in the league.

Furthermore, our backup goalkeeper was the worst performer in the Championship last season, with an xG of -10.1 goals prevented, what is worse is that Baz has already done worse than Lumley and that's with eight games remaining.

I know it's insane to say this given the level we're playing and the money involved, but I don't believe it's too late for Baz to change to another position given his age. There's no fucking way this man is a goal keeper, period.

That's as black and white as it gets really, you can argue stats when they're borderline and query the data quality etc etc - but he doesn't have borderline to his benefit, he is by a distance the worst, not by .1's or anything, but entire figures. There is no where to hide on this.

I thought he had a spell this season where he was fine, we looked settled and he was actually going up that league table a bit - but since Feb he has let in some shockers and low and behold he's tumbled right to the bottom again.

I'll be interested to hear if Adam Blackmore broaches this question tomorrow and what Martins response will be. If he can drop KWP for ''playing badly'', then I'd like to see his justification for keeping Bazunu in the 11 with the stats in front of us, which are based on 2 years worth of data - if they want to obsess over stats, they're right there.

[Challenger]

Whether it's the standard of the keeper, the all too regular missed sitters at the other end or all that occurs in between, the stable door has been swinging a long, long time now.

Sod all seems to ever get done to resolve it.

The SR philosophy of aiming for a 50% pass rate will fail yet again.

[JRM]

7 hours ago, Turkish said:

I wonder if anyone will quote the fact he's been statistically the worst keeper in the division for the second season running.

RMs defence of Baz was so extreme I think deep down he knew he was lumbered with a keeper who was going to be a liability, went so over the top praising him looks a bit silly in hindsight. 

A colleague of mine follows Republic of Ireland home and away and doesn't rate him either but they're resigned to not qualifying for tournaments with the likes of Baz, Manning and Smallbone in the team. 

[chownie20]

The only big save I remember is the WBA one the other week.  I think net-net he has probably cost more points than he has saved us hasn't he, unfortunately.

But, I think whatever we do, we need to stick with it from now until the end of the season.  A settled back 5 would be so valuable I think.  And that has to be GK / Bree / Bednarek / TBH / Peters.  Play them, get them gelling, and hope we are more solid for the playoffs. I think that would be my one ask of Russell Martin right now - settled back 5.

McCarthy is obviously totally out of the picture but I am sure he stops at least 2 of the Ipswich goals the other day.  Be good to get him off the wage bill in the Summer.

[AlexLaw76]

Bazunu was terrible last season, and has been very poor this season...all whilst in a team that is comfortably top 4. Very poor

I said at the start of the season that Angus Gunn will have a better season, in a worse team, than Bazunu

 

[AlexLaw76]

On 30/12/2023 at 00:24, Lighthouse said:

Some people seem to think he’s useless, should be nowhere near the team, is the worst keeper in the league or if they are being kind, ‘might be good enough in ten years’. There are more than enough people claiming his mistakes ‘cost us points’ as if that’s somehow unique to him and not every player, in every squad in the country.

Kelvin was in the team of the season last time we got promoted. He was frequently beaten low at his near post, had the odd howler in his locker and his distribution was nowhere near as accurate and composed as Baz.

The hyperbole is from people claiming he’s some sort of liability, holding this team back, when that’s very clearly not the case. Every player will make mistakes which will cost us points. If they didn’t we’d finish the season on 138 points.

Kind of true, yes?

[OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint]

23 hours ago, Galway saint said:

I think we will see a change on Saturday albeit given Lumley is said to be the worst QPR keeper in recent years it might be short lived…

Didnt get Baz get dropped at a similar stage of the season last year for being shit  ?

the other thing i really don’t get is when people say Baz has potential or will be at his peak in six years or so.

I’ve seen nothing since he joined us to suggest he will be a top level keeper. he doesn’t seem to have any of the attributes of a top level keeper but maybe someone who doesn’t make saves is the future of goalkeeping; a sort of anti-goalkeeper.

I've always liked Baz. Russball relies on a goalkeeper who is confident on the ball and has good distribution - which Baz has. Problem is he's a truly useless goalkeeper and like you and many other, Galway, I've seen nothing to suggest he's going to get better. Problem is, I don't think now is the time to bring in Lumley. This guy sounds like Captain Calamity, and while I've only seen him play twice in a Saints shirt and in one he did ok, that Youtube compilation for his fails doesn't help his cause.

[Wade Garrett]

4 minutes ago, OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint said:

I've always liked Baz. Russball relies on a goalkeeper who is confident on the ball and has good distribution - which Baz has. Problem is he's a truly useless goalkeeper and like you and many other, Galway, I've seen nothing to suggest he's going to get better. Problem is, I don't think now is the time to bring in Lumley. This guy sounds like Captain Calamity, and while I've only seen him play twice in a Saints shirt and in one he did ok, that Youtube compilation for his fails doesn't help his cause.

It’s like choosing between Jimmy Saville and Gary Glitter for babysitting duties.

[chownie20]

7 minutes ago, OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint said:

I've always liked Baz. Russball relies on a goalkeeper who is confident on the ball and has good distribution - which Baz has. Problem is he's a truly useless goalkeeper and like you and many other, Galway, I've seen nothing to suggest he's going to get better. Problem is, I don't think now is the time to bring in Lumley. This guy sounds like Captain Calamity, and while I've only seen him play twice in a Saints shirt and in one he did ok, that Youtube compilation for his fails doesn't help his cause.

Scary video! I'd rather make Mccarthy earn his money!

[Galway saint]

That’s not an encouraging video 

 

 

 

 

 

[LeG]

Has anyone mentioned Lis?

On loan at Goztepe

17 clean sheets in 27 apps.

3/7 Pen saves

4inches taller than Bazunu.

Only conceded more than 1 goal 4 times

Could he start for us next season if we don't go up?

[SaintsBarry74]

42 minutes ago, OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint said:

I've always liked Baz. Russball relies on a goalkeeper who is confident on the ball and has good distribution - which Baz has. Problem is he's a truly useless goalkeeper and like you and many other, Galway, I've seen nothing to suggest he's going to get better. Problem is, I don't think now is the time to bring in Lumley. This guy sounds like Captain Calamity, and while I've only seen him play twice in a Saints shirt and in one he did ok, that Youtube compilation for his fails doesn't help his cause.

Haha. I trust my toddler to do our recruiting better than this; what a mess! I'm tempted to put on some oven mitts and turn up tomorrow at the training ground for a shot at the goalie position.

[Gloucester Saint]

19 minutes ago, LeG said:

Has anyone mentioned Lis?

On loan at Goztepe

17 clean sheets in 27 apps.

3/7 Pen saves

4inches taller than Bazunu.

Only conceded more than 1 goal 4 times

Could he start for us next season if we don't go up?

Why not? Although as others have posted, signing Bazanu as a League One quality keeper at best for what £14m, when it should have been £750k + add-ons as a back-up, Lumley and making McCarthy a top earner, the club’s diabolical reputation for recruitment doesn’t inspire any faith. 

Although with a record of extortionate and inexplicable failure like Ross Stewart, Guido Carrillo and Paul Onachu in the striker department, it almost (I said almost!) looks an improvement. 

Lis would be cheap so would suit from that perspective. 

Edited 4 April, 2024 by Gloucester Saint

[Galway saint]

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

quote above from a 2022 article

think this explains a lot and why he doesn’t really have the necessary goalkeeping attributes; in substance he’s an average outfield player who now plays in goal 

maybe we try him on the wing for the rest of the season and see how he goes. might be more effective than edozie 

[Lord Duckhunter]

I spoke to a national league south keeper last night, he’d made the bench for league 1 games, before dropping out of the pro game & is now involved with coaching & playing semi pro. He knows lumley as they’re the same age group & he’s done some coaching with Reading nippers. He reckons he’s brilliant at training but he hasn’t managed to transfer his ability to match days. Said he’s very talented, has the ability,  but must lack the temperament to start regularly. Although he reckons I’m too harsh on Baz, so he’s clearly fucking clueless. 

[Nordic Saint]

1 hour ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

I spoke to a national league south keeper last night, he’d made the bench for league 1 games, before dropping out of the pro game & is now involved with coaching & playing semi pro. He knows lumley as they’re the same age group & he’s done some coaching with Reading nippers. He reckons he’s brilliant at training but he hasn’t managed to transfer his ability to match days. Said he’s very talented, has the ability,  but must lack the temperament to start regularly. Although he reckons I’m too harsh on Baz, so he’s clearly fucking clueless. 

To be fair, if Bazunu were playing in National League South, he might not be the worst goalkeeper in it. Maybe that chap you spoke to is equally bad. Of course, that's only a 'maybe,' not a certainty.

There must be people in the crowd at St Mary's who'd save more shots than Bazunu does, but, Lumley probably isn't one of them.

 

 Portsmouth team-mate on under-fire Manchester City keeper's dark period after Ipswich Town nightmare

 

The Ipswich players must have been laughing their heads off when they saw who was in goal against them on Monday:

 

 

Edited 5 April, 2024 by Nordic Saint

[LuckyNumber7]

Think people are being a bit harsh on Lumley. I think he's been pretty decent in the few appearances he's made, certainly no worse than Baz. Also don't forget he was voted Reading's player of the season last year so he obviously has something about him.

Personally as we have little to play for until the playoffs, I'd give Baz some time out and see what Lumley can do for a few games.

[The Cat]

Lumley has been ok, although the goal he let in at Watford in the cup was poor.

[Osvaldorama]

22 hours ago, SaintsBarry74 said:

In summary, our no1 set a PL record last season for the highest negative xG ever recorded. This season, he's on track to repeat this performance in the Championship, heading towards the lowest xG ever recorded in the league.

Furthermore, our backup goalkeeper was the worst performer in the Championship last season, with an xG of -10.1 goals prevented, what is worse is that Baz has already done worse than Lumley and that's with eight games remaining.

I know it's insane to say this given the level we're playing and the money involved, but I don't believe it's too late for Baz to change to another position given his age. There's no fucking way this man is a goal keeper, period.

Hahahahahaha this is classic saints.  
 

Remember when they told us he would be in the team of the season? 😂
 

Why are our fans better at spotting talent (or lack of it) than the club? FFS

[The Curse of St Mary's]

Interesting Martin said in the presser today that players underperforming will be dropped. Bazuna seems to be immune from this thinking which probably grates with some of the squad. KWP seemingly dropped because of the mistake against Boro and generally poor game by his standards yet Bazuna underperforms most weeks but still gets selected. 

[Nordic Saint]

On 04/04/2024 at 14:57, S-Clarke said:

Could be an interesting experiment - stick an outfield player in goal for the next 8 games and see if we fare any worse.

We could probably stick you in goal and not fare any worse. Bazunu is about as good at goalkeeping as Frank Spencer was at D.I.Y.

[coalman]

45 minutes ago, Osvaldorama said:

Hahahahahaha this is classic saints.  
 

Remember when they told us he would be in the team of the season? 😂
 

Why are our fans better at spotting talent (or lack of it) than the club? FFS

It's a team of the season at least.

[RedArmy]

3 hours ago, LuckyNumber7 said:

Think people are being a bit harsh on Lumley. I think he's been pretty decent in the few appearances he's made, certainly no worse than Baz. Also don't forget he was voted Reading's player of the season last year so he obviously has something about him.

Personally as we have little to play for until the playoffs, I'd give Baz some time out and see what Lumley can do for a few games.

Baz was the skates player of the season and he’s got nothing about him. 

[Midfield_General]

34 minutes ago, RedArmy said:

Baz was the skates player of the season and he’s got nothing about him. 

After playing a key role in our relegation, and now our laboured attempts to get back up, he’s probably on track to be voted their favourite player of the century.

I know a skate and he thinks the fact we keep persisting with ‘Agent Bazunu’ is hilarious. 

[bpsaint]

22 hours ago, OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint said:

I've always liked Baz. Russball relies on a goalkeeper who is confident on the ball and has good distribution - which Baz has. Problem is he's a truly useless goalkeeper and like you and many other, Galway, I've seen nothing to suggest he's going to get better. Problem is, I don't think now is the time to bring in Lumley. This guy sounds like Captain Calamity, and while I've only seen him play twice in a Saints shirt and in one he did ok, that Youtube compilation for his fails doesn't help his cause.

Fucking hell, I’ve never seen so many goals go ‘through’ a keeper.

Whats actually embarrassing, and kind of makes me angry, is that despite Lumley being so bad he has an entire Lowlights reel, someone at Saints scouted him and thought, yep he’s the man for us.

Seriously though just think for a moment, that there is someone in our setup, likely on a 7 figure salary, that thought Bazunu and Lumley were adequate GK options for us this season. Whilst us mere mortals can quite clearly see, that they’re both a bag of shite really.

Edited 5 April, 2024 by bpsaint

[saintant]

I'm pretty sure I know the answer but has any side ever won promotion to the Premier League with arguably the worst keeper in the Championship? I'm guessing most promoted sides had a competent guy between the sticks.

[sfc4prem]

12 minutes ago, saintant said:

I'm pretty sure I know the answer but has any side ever won promotion to the Premier League with arguably the worst keeper in the Championship? I'm guessing most promoted sides had a competent guy between the sticks.

My mind automatically goes back to Kelvin's performance at Elland Road.

[Midfield_General]

Kelvin got found out in the Prem but in the Championship he was sound and won us a lot of points.

Then the Leeds game was just extraordinary by any keeper’s standards. Rarely, at any level, do you see a keeper win a key game like that basically on his own. 

[S-Clarke]

5 hours ago, Nordic Saint said:

We could probably stick you in goal and not fare any worse. Bazunu is about as good at goalkeeping as Frank Spencer was at D.I.Y.

I'm down for that, I'd only accept 1k a week as well. 

[SaintsBarry74]

1 hour ago, saintant said:

I'm pretty sure I know the answer but has any side ever won promotion to the Premier League with arguably the worst keeper in the Championship? I'm guessing most promoted sides had a competent guy between the sticks.

Nope not in the last 10 years, I wasn't bothered to look back any further, then again I couldn't find a team with a goal keeper underperforming this much and yet having as many points as we have now, it's quite incredible really.

With Bazunu, it's not about blatant howlers, but rather consistent underperformance that has become the norm. Occasionally, when he does make a good save, it's perceived as extraordinary when, in reality, it's more often than not routine for the level of play we're at.

Look at Danny Ward last season for Leicester, he was heavily criticized last season. Many Leicester fans would argue that him getting picked for as many games as he was, was a major reason for their relegation. The decision to bench him came late, the damage had already been done and ultimately they were done for. Now, Leicester boasts one of the league's top goalkeepers, acquired for a mere £5m and weekly wage of £10k.

It was mentioned earlier that Bazunu transitioned from playing as a right-back to a goalkeeper relatively late in his development. This transition might explain why he appears more like an outfield player in goal. His positioning often seems off, and his approach to the ball lacks the agility expected of a goalkeeper; it's more like falling in the direction he anticipates the ball will come from.

 

Edited 5 April, 2024 by SaintsBarry74

[rooney]

Which begs the question, what do our Goalkeeping Coaches do?

[Weston Super Saint]

21 minutes ago, rooney said:

Which begs the question, what do our Goalkeeping Coaches do?

I guess if our outfield coaches don't coach players to tackle and close down, the goalkeeping ones don't bother with catching crosses or positioning to make saves.

[FarehamSaintJames]

The bit thst frustrates me is the inconsistency. He could have the game of his life and a week later make a howler.

Yet we’ve persisted with him because he’s good with his feet, which he generally is.

But I don’t care about that. Shouldn’t be passing back to the goalkeeper every thirty seconds anyway. 
Id rather a keeper that can make a save than ping a sixty yard pass.