Gavin Bazunu - Official: Loaned to Stoke

[hypochondriac]

We strengthen Qpr with Edwards whilst weakening stoke. Giveth and taketh away.

[saintant]

3 hours ago, Football Special said:

 

Lots of clapping seals in this clip 🙂

[Turkish]

2 minutes ago, saintant said:

Lots of clapping seals in this clip 🙂

Clapping seals and the guy who asked the question nailed it, spine of the team is weak, it still is.

[Osvaldorama]

4 hours ago, Football Special said:

 

Fans have recognised our weaknesses with more clarity than the club for a long time now, sadly. 
 

Anyone that was there that “clapped” needs to give their head a wobble. The guy that asked the question was spot on. 

Edited yesterday at 13:23 by Osvaldorama

[Whitey Grandad]

6 hours ago, Weston Super Saint said:

Was that one by Whitey from Stoke?

Surely there can't be two of us?

[Lord Duckhunter]

18 hours ago, Lighthouse said:

I'll remember him as the keeper we got promoted with,

I’ll remember him in a similar way.
 

When I look back at his contribution I will be grateful . Grateful he got injured and missed the play offs. 

Edited yesterday at 13:34 by Lord Duckhunter

[Charlie Wayman]

On 09/01/2026 at 16:06, Sheaf Saint said:

Talk of finding the best decision for him and the club also suggests he's not happy and is agitating for a move.

Would you be if every time you went on-line some bugger was slagging you off?

[Football Special]

57 minutes ago, Osvaldorama said:

Fans have recognised our weaknesses with more clarity than the club for a long time now, sadly. 
 

Anyone that was there that “clapped” needs to give their head a wobble. The guy that asked the question was spot on. 

Yep this was in August 2023! Everything the fan pointed out was correct and still hasn't really been addressed by the "know it alls" who run the club 

[AlexLaw76]

Get him on the bus

 

[tdmickey3]

15 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Get him on the bus

 

Are they saying he is worse then his brother.... is that possible?

 

[Suhari]

4 minutes ago, tdmickey3 said:

Are they saying he is worse then his brother.... is that possible?

 

Imagine being the less talented brother to Baz.

Poor fucker.

[AlexLaw76]

28 minutes ago, Suhari said:

Imagine being the less talented brother to Baz.

Poor fucker.

That must make him…. “Fine” for league 1

[franniesTache]

1 hour ago, tdmickey3 said:

Are they saying he is worse then his brother.... is that possible?

 

Or the fact that he "might not have the talent of his brother" actually means he does have talent

[SaintsBarry74]

Please get this deal done asap, before they get cold feet.

[Gloucester Saint]

8 hours ago, Football Special said:

My sentiments exactly mate, when we signed him he needed a gradual introduction to Premier league football having only played league one for Skates and Rochdale I think. Was dropped in deep end. 

What annoyed me was it was clear to all that he wasn't at the required level yet and Saints double downed on it , the fans forum where a perfectly reasonable fan questioned the persistence with Gav and got the most bizarre reply from Russ. 

Anyway he seems like a genuinely nice bloke to hope it works out for him 

Gavin has not been served by the club in terms of his development. Financially, maybe more so. Ralph was part of the issue early on, because his feud with McCarthy after the Brighton home game the season before and SR probably struggled to shift McCarthy with the albatross of a contract from Semmens. So when Gavin needed to be taken out of the firing line he wasn’t due to stubbornness.

His confidence was shredded before it got going, nice words from Martin at the Forum in August 2023 but the actions didn’t match, struggled badly again with a porous and ponderous defence and midfield in front of him. Major injury, wretched loan spell in Belgium and then this season’s car crash.

To be clear, this doesn’t absolve him of not having natural goalkeeping ability - compare him to Tim Flowers signed from a Wolves side plummeting into the basement. Timmy at the same age was raw but far more of a natural keeper than Gavin.

A key difference was the signing of John Burridge to bring him along, mentor and instill high standards. Anyone who witnessed one of Budgie’s warm-ups will know what I mean! Tim could be brought in gradually without any bullshit.

[Willo of Whiteley]

It’s amazing when you look at the amount of strong players who’s careers died in the last four years. Bazunu’s was never going to take off after the last couple of seasons.
Likewise because of where we are now I wouldn’t be surprised if this was say Finn Azaz’s peak of his career. 
There’s not many in our squad that will go on to better things.

Ryan Bertrand was still strong, Oriol Romeu too. JWP after his transfer.

Players that were was exceptional in their own way and own club one year early suddenly tanked in value.

Chelsea is an example of where a lot of players careers die. See Axel Disasi, Raheem Sterling, Danny Drinkwater.

It’s amazing how the wrong transfer can ruin a career just like tha.

[pimpin4rizeal]

Probably the most happy I’ve ever felt about a player leaving although it might have been a better idea to lower the fee and make it a obligation to buy.  8m seems a lot for stoke to spend on a keeper so he will probably be  back  

Edited 22 hours ago by pimpin4rizeal

[SaintsBarry74]

Had a peak at their message board, this post stood out:

"Aren't Southampton renowned for that sweeper keeper shite?

We keep it pretty simple playing out from the back so as long as he's ok on crosses and shot stopping he'll be fine"

[Sheaf Saint]

8 minutes ago, SaintsBarry74 said:

Had a peak at their message board, this post stood out:

"Aren't Southampton renowned for that sweeper keeper shite?

We keep it pretty simple playing out from the back so as long as he's ok on crosses and shot stopping he'll be fine"

Who wants to tell them?

[AlexLaw76]

14 minutes ago, SaintsBarry74 said:

Had a peak at their message board, this post stood out:

"Aren't Southampton renowned for that sweeper keeper shite?

We keep it pretty simple playing out from the back so as long as he's ok on crosses and shot stopping he'll be fine"

That word "fine" is again being used when discussing Bazunu

🫠

[Badger]

30 minutes ago, SaintsBarry74 said:

Had a peak at their message board, this post stood out:

"Aren't Southampton renowned for that sweeper keeper shite?

We keep it pretty simple playing out from the back so as long as he's ok on crosses and shot stopping he'll be fine"

I also had a look n their site, and saw one Stoke fan had consulted a skate mate who said that Bazunu had been ‘world class’ for them.

Yes, ‘world class’ in L1. Another great Portsmyth to add to their great history. 

[bpsaint]

5 hours ago, Suhari said:

Imagine being the less talented brother to Baz.

Poor fucker.

Sports Republic are preparing a £12 million bid.

[S-Clarke]

Those poor Stoke fans have got their head in the sand over this guy. I know some players just fit 'better' at some clubs than others, but this guy can't actually perform his profession so he's not going to suddenly become a goalkeeper.

[S-Clarke]

1 hour ago, SaintsBarry74 said:

Had a peak at their message board, this post stood out:

"Aren't Southampton renowned for that sweeper keeper shite?

We keep it pretty simple playing out from the back so as long as he's ok on crosses and shot stopping he'll be fine"

Crazy, they're talking about the sweeper keeper stuff as a negative - that's his best and only measurable attribute, you can't deny that.

He can't do anything else other than be a sweeper keeper and pass the ball, so they're in for a rude awakening if they expect command and shot stopping.

[swedish dave]

I've always subscribed to the theory that  any goalie  is only as the defence in front of him.

Certainly Bazunu was at fault on frequent occasions, but how many of those goals conceded

were down to the ineptitude of defenders who failed to do their job properly ? 

As of this date ...STOKE have the best defensive record in this League, so it will be interesting to 

monitor their results in the coming weeks with him in goal. He will be ineligible to play for them

(against us) on January 31st - as the deal will (apparently) only be a loan until end of season. 

[Turkish]

Has he gone yet?

[saintant]

20 minutes ago, swedish dave said:

I've always subscribed to the theory that  any goalie  is only as the defence in front of him.

Certainly Bazunu was at fault on frequent occasions, but how many of those goals conceded

were down to the ineptitude of defenders who failed to do their job properly ? 

As of this date ...STOKE have the best defensive record in this League, so it will be interesting to 

monitor their results in the coming weeks with him in goal. He will be ineligible to play for them

(against us) on January 31st - as the deal will (apparently) only be a loan until end of season. 

That is about to change.

[suewhistle]

Season loan confirmed on OS.

[trousers]

52 minutes ago, swedish dave said:

I've always subscribed to the theory that  any goalie  is only as the defence in front of him.

Wouldn't a poor defence highlight how good a decent keeper is though, given they naturally have more saves to make than a keeper with a better defence in front of them...?

[Turkish]

Now heres a question. Baz is gone, are SR now gambling on a goalkeeper coming in who has only played 6 games in 2 years? 

[Lee On Solent Saint]

3 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Now heres a question. Baz is gone, are SR now gambling on a goalkeeper coming in who has only played 6 games in 2 years? 

Seems that way. With McCarthy as back up. What could possibly go wrong?

[CB Fry]

Absolutely no option to buy mentioned. Robins is no mug. I doubt Stoke have got 8mil to drop on a goalie anyway.

[Football Special]

I miss him already 😢 

 

[beatlesaint]

Full credit to Spors on this one. Not only do they pay a loan fee, they cover his full wages and he will de-rail their play off chances.

Shithousery at its finest there 😂

[Paul Chuckle]

17 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

Absolutely no option to buy mentioned. Robins is no mug. I doubt Stoke have got 8mil to drop on a goalie anyway.

https://www.southamptonfc.com/en/news/article/downs-joins-hamburger-sv-on-loan

 

Wasn't mentioned when Downs went either

[haddock24]

You spell it H-A-L-L-E-L-U-J-A-H, meaning "praise the Lord," a joyful expression from Hebrew that's also seen as the similar-sounding Latin version, "Alleluia". It's a word of praise, thanks, and great happiness, used in worship and sometimes informally for surprise. 

[sockeye]

Good luck to Bazunu! Hope he does well out there

[Turkish]

4 minutes ago, haddock24 said:

You spell it H-A-L-L-E-L-U-J-A-H, meaning "praise the Lord," a joyful expression from Hebrew that's also seen as the similar-sounding Latin version, "Alleluia". It's a word of praise, thanks, and great happiness, used in worship and sometimes informally for surprise. 

Why are you praising a false deity for a business transaction involving humans, money and lawyers? The Lord had nothing to do with it, if indeed one does exist. 

[BARCELONASAINT]

1 hour ago, Turkish said:

Now heres a question. Baz is gone, are SR now gambling on a goalkeeper coming in who has only played 6 games in 2 years? 

It is without doubt a huge gamble and smacks off they have accepted we are NOT getting to the playoffs let alone promoted. The new keeper may turn out to be a good upgrade but it is far too early to judge that.

[S-Clarke]

1 hour ago, Turkish said:

Now heres a question. Baz is gone, are SR now gambling on a goalkeeper coming in who has only played 6 games in 2 years? 

They always gamble, it's what they 'do'. Could Pretez be decent? Possibly, too early to say - but his time in Israel was very good, some strong performances which prompted Bayern to buy him.

We needed to shift on Bazunu either way though, so it's got to be a positive. This new guy is going to have to be Ali Dia to not be any better than Bazunu, so I have some confidence he's going to be an improvement!

Edited 5 hours ago by S-Clarke

[Lord Duckhunter]

3 minutes ago, BARCELONASAINT said:

It is without doubt a huge gamble and smacks off they have accepted we are NOT getting to the playoffs let alone promoted.

I think it’s more that they’ve accepted Baz is shite & a bloke whose played 6 games in 2 years is far better.

Edited 5 hours ago by Lord Duckhunter

[Lord Duckhunter]

Good luck Baz, hope it goes well for him and he gets his move. 
 

I’ve not been impressed with him, but he was still a Saint, so thought I’d post highlights of the great saves he’s made over the years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good luck, you’ll be missed….

Edited 5 hours ago by Lord Duckhunter

[hypochondriac]

Hopefully the last time we ever see him in a Saints shirt and the last time we have to talk about him.

[Willo of Whiteley]

Beatable on his day. One of the worst the clubs seen. A liability to those around him.

Goodbye, Gav.

[RedArmy]

One of the Saints keepers of all time. 
 

 

[pingpong]

Thank f for that. Always said he was shite, never liked the guy.

(Think he will be good at stoke though)

 

[Gloucester Saint]

1 hour ago, trousers said:

Wouldn't a poor defence highlight how good a decent keeper is though, given they naturally have more saves to make than a keeper with a better defence in front of them...?

Was certainly the case with Kelvin at that level in 08/09 who received POTS and also Dave Beasant kept us up in 95/96. 

[Osvaldorama]

 

This one from Adam Blackmore in July aged well   

😂

 

[swannymere]

Bazunu will hav ethe last laugh. Mark my words.

[Gloucester Saint]

1 minute ago, swannymere said:

Bazunu will hav ethe last laugh. Mark my words.

Unless he develops the natural instincts and positioning of a professional goalkeeper, he really won’t. I wish him all of the very best and hope has a stormer at Stoke so we can sell him, his career gets going whether Stoke buy or not, but it requires him being 1000% better on the goalkeeping basics than he’s ever been here.

We are a car crash, so it’s certainly possible…but I wouldn’t be lumping money on it. If he had the raw potential of a Tim Flowers circa 1988 monitored by John Burridge, my view would entirely different.