Gavin Bazunu

[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 April 5 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 April 5 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 April 5 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.

[Huffton]

1 hour ago, rooney said:

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

Facepalms?

[Whitey Grandad]

1 hour ago, rooney said:

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

They coach Russball. It’s more important to them to have a goalkeeper who can be an integral part of a possession obsession than one who can do the fundamentals of goalkeeping. They see a goalkeeper as a quarterback and not as the last line of defence.

[Lord Duckhunter]

13 hours ago, sfc4prem said:

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

If Baz was in nets that day, it would have ended up about 14-1. 
 

Baz once produced a similarly remarkable performance (for him). I can’t remember who it was against, but he once saved 2 shots in one half.

[Lord Duckhunter]

1 hour ago, FarehamSaintJames said:

The bit thst frustrates me is the inconsistency

That’s not correct.
 

If it’s consistency you want, Baz is your man. 

[FarehamSaintJames]

1 hour ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

That’s not correct.
 

If it’s consistency you want, Baz is your man. 

Apologies, consistently poor.

[S-Clarke]

Someone quoted the black and white table to Martin as above (i.e. the worst XG keeper in the league). Martin's response as I expected to be honest.

"I don't really understand that stat, but speak to Dean (Thornton) or the other goalies - there have been numerous games where he's been outstanding this season.

Edited April 6 by S-Clarke

[sfc4prem]

8 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

Someone quoted the black and white table to Martin as above (i.e. the worst XG keeper in the league). Martin's response as I expected to be honest.

"I don't really understand that stat, but speak to Dean (Thornton) or the other goalies - there have been numerous games where he's been outstanding this season.

Worrying that our manager doesn't understand that simple statistic.

[Weston Super Saint]

16 minutes ago, sfc4prem said:

Worrying that our manager doesn't understand that simple statistic.

More worrying that he believes it when people have told him Baz has been 'outstanding'.

 

[obelisk]

36 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

Someone quoted the black and white table to Martin as above (i.e. the worst XG keeper in the league). Martin's response as I expected to be honest.

"I don't really understand that stat, but speak to Dean (Thornton) or the other goalies - there have been numerous games where he's been outstanding this season.

Maybe he misheard. I think it was possibly said that Baz was "caught out standing in the wrong place in numerous games".

[RedArmy]

4 hours ago, rooney said:

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

Score a lot of goals probably. 

[TheAlehouseBrawlers]

One for the conspiracy theorists, somebody on the UI (think he also posts on here - Sven-Goran Eriksson look-a-likey) has suggested that Rotherham’s keeper Johansson stayed at a hotel in Blackburn last night. He put in two outstanding performances against us but not forgetting he was part of a relegated side that conceded a lot of goals albeit League One standard defence. Straight swap for Baz who did well at that level?*

https://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/football/southampton/forum/308005/rotherham’s-keeper-johansson/#2

*tongue-in-cheek

[S-Clarke]

10 minutes ago, TheAlehouseBrawlers said:

One for the conspiracy theorists, somebody on the UI (think he also posts on here - Sven-Goran Eriksson look-a-likey) has suggested that Rotherham’s keeper Johansson stayed at a hotel in Blackburn last night. He put in two outstanding performances against us but not forgetting he was part of a relegated side that conceded a lot of goals albeit League One standard defence. Straight swap for Baz who did well at that level?*

https://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/football/southampton/forum/308005/rotherham’s-keeper-johansson/#2

*tongue-in-cheek

I guess your whole post is tounge in cheek?  

The poster was the one who stayed at the hotel, not Rotherham's keeper.

[TheAlehouseBrawlers]

14 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

I guess your whole post is tounge in cheek?  

The poster was the one who stayed at the hotel, not Rotherham's keeper.

Oh yeah, what a plonker - saw the title and then read his first line.

Note to self: pay more attention.

[The Curse of St Mary's]

Once again beaten low down to his left side. Should have saved the second when you see it from behind the goal view. He has a definite weakness on that side. 

[Baird of the land]

6 minutes ago, The Curse of St Mary's said:

Once again beaten low down to his left side. Should have saved the second when you see it from behind the goal view. He has a definite weakness on that side. 

Interesting. My first reaction was could he have done better but haven’t seen the goal angle

[Saint Matty 76]

Felt it at the time too, hardly be a surprise

[stknowle]

It’s virtually like having an outfield player in goal with him in there. His distribution is generally very good, his ability to make saves is beyond 1 star. I actually cannot believe he’s employed as a goalkeeper given how poor he is at the second bit.

Edited April 13 by stknowle

[Saint_clark]

We'd be top of the league with any other starting championship keeper.

[stknowle]

1 minute ago, Saint_clark said:

We'd be top of the league with any other starting championship keeper.

Agree. He’s a massive Achilles heel unfortunately.

[SaintsBarry74]

Just now, Saint_clark said:

We'd be top of the league with any other starting championship keeper.

That's what I've been saying the whole time, he is by no means a goalkeeper, not when taking into consideration the level we're playing. We could have an average shot stopper in goal and fans would be raving about him like he's a new Gianluigi Buffon.

[sfc4prem]

6 minutes ago, Saint_clark said:

We'd be top of the league with any other starting championship keeper.

Agreed.

[Wade Garrett]

Went down like a sack of shit for their second.

[The Kraken]

10 minutes ago, Wade Garrett said:

Went down like a sack of shit for their second.

Like a felled tree. He really cannot save anything low to his left (pretty shite centrally and to his right too, tbf). Such a glaring weakness in our squad that our reserve keepers can’t get a single league game ahead of, well, that.

[Badger]

11 minutes ago, Wade Garrett said:

Went down like a sack of shit for their second.

Relish the prospect of him facing five or more penalties in the play offs.

( Although he did save one from Ronaldo once upon a time. Thought I’d add that before an MLG type Statto threw it in there). 
 

I recall Gunn’s bellyflops against Derby in the FA Cup Replay. Another great City prospect of course. 

[The Kraken]

I remember someone trying to defend Baz on here a while ago, it might have been TWar and/or Gio, can’t recall. The statement was “his only real weakness is he’s not a good shot stopper”. I’ve always kind of thought it sums up everything about him, entirely style over substance. Looks great on the ball but, when it comes down to it, he’s got crisp packet wrists and barely makes any saves where you come away thinking “thank god for Baz, he bailed us out there”.

[stknowle]

Forster used to have the same inability to get down to shots on his left, or was it his right I can’t remember. I can however remember that he made good saves sometimes and had the odd utter worldy game in him (usually against Arsenal).

I can think of TWO saves Baz has made this season  that made me think ‘Nice one Baz, good save’. The West Brom one and I think the other one was Preston where he kicked it off the line and everyone chest bumped him.  It’s just so fucking poor. 

[Block41 Saint]

A goalkeeper who is a shite stop stopper will never be a decent goalkeeper. Cut our losses in the summer because he rarely keeps it out the net. 

[trousers]

54 minutes ago, stknowle said:

Forster used to have the same inability to get down to shots on his left, or was it his right I can’t remember

Possibly both! Yep, both Frazer and Gavin always seem to dive over the ball in semi-slow motion. Somewhat bizarre that we seemingly place "ability to play out with ball at feet" as a higher priority in our goalkeeping ability requirements than "shot stopping ability"... Wouldn't it be better to have both attributes as an equally high priority...?

Edited April 13 by trousers

[The Kraken]

12 minutes ago, trousers said:

Possibly both! Yep, both Frazer and Gavin always seem to dive over the ball in semi-slow motion. Somewhat bizarre that we seemingly place "ability to play out with ball at feet" as a higher priority in our goalkeeping ability requirements than "shot stopping ability"... Wouldn't it be better to have both attributes as an equally high priority...?

I’ve said it before when hearing this but I’ll say it again. Call me old fashioned if you will, but shot stopping is the absolute number one priority of a keeper, and by miles. Claiming crosses is probably next up in importance. Being good with the feet is very useful in todays game but absolutely not the priority compared to the fundamentals of glovesmanship.

Baz is excellent on the ball but sadly he’s risibly poor with his hands. Sticking with him is our downfall, I can only begin to imagine how bad Joe Lumley is tgat he can’t get a single league minute under his belt with this clown between the sticks.

[Galway saint]

watched the second a few times and it’s not one of his worst ( from the angles i’ve seen) but yet another to file in the ‘ could have done better’ category. 

i can’t remember the last time he made a decent save - WBA away perhaps. seems the club and management are happy with a keeper who doesn’t make saves and lets in a lot of goals he should keep out.

i like blackmore but on solent today he said that baz was good with his feet and a good shotstopper but was not confident coming off his line. where on earth has he seen evidence of good shot stopping.

we are now nearly two years into this folly and hopefully we won’t make it a third but I’m far from convinced. we just need to cut our losses as a decent replacement would be an easy way to cut the number of goals we concede.

 

 

 

 

[Baird of the land]

18 minutes ago, The Kraken said:

I’ve said it before when hearing this but I’ll say it again. Call me old fashioned if you will, but shot stopping is the absolute number one priority of a keeper, and by miles. Claiming crosses is probably next up in importance. Being good with the feet is very useful in todays game but absolutely not the priority compared to the fundamentals of glovesmanship.

Baz is excellent on the ball but sadly he’s risibly poor with his hands. Sticking with him is our downfall, I can only begin to imagine how bad Joe Lumley is tgat he can’t get a single league minute under his belt with this clown between the sticks.

It says something about our goalkeeping recruitment, we've got mccarthy who has been put out to pasture, the cheap replacement backup is no good and the starter's upside is his distribution.