Gavin Bazunu

[leeham_69]

8 hours ago, Saint_clark said:

If he isn't unsighted then he's facing world class shots that no keeper in the world would stop. Apparently he doesn't let in easy chances. 

Think there’s a bit of a misunderstanding here. He wasn’t “unsighted for the goal”, he is “legally blind”.

[tdmickey3]

Everything he does shows slow reaction, slow thinking and a mad panicked scramble, add that to his crisp wrists.

He is very very poor.

[sledger]

two points,if AM had played the last two games we probably would have had two clean sheets,also how poor must george long be that he cant even challenge these two clowns.

[Whitey Grandad]

3 hours ago, Jack said:

Ridiculously, we have one sitting on the bench 

Surely you can't mean McCarthy? The same McCarthy who in his five appearances recently conceded 8 goals? Some of those were world-class balls ups.

[Whitey Grandad]

3 hours ago, sledger said:

two points,if AM had played the last two games we probably would have had two clean sheets,also how poor must george long be that he cant even challenge these two clowns.

Not with McCarthy in goal we wouldn't.  What a ridiculous suggestion. 

[SouSaint]

3 hours ago, Whitey Grandad said:

Surely you can't mean McCarthy? The same McCarthy who in his five appearances recently conceded 8 goals? Some of those were world-class balls ups.

Which of them stay out of the net with Bazunu in goal? 

 

[JohnnyShearer2.0]

7 hours ago, sledger said:

two points,if AM had played the last two games we probably would have had two clean sheets,also how poor must george long be that he cant even challenge these two clowns.

Disagree. 

McCarthy has it in him to be equally shit. Plenty of times he's gifted goals as well.

[Weston Super Saint]

If the Northam changed the Gary O'Neil song for Bazunu, would the board be as quick to get rid of him?  We live in hope.

[SWLondon Saint]

20 hours ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

Not only does Baz face an unbelievable amount of unstoppable shots, but he also has his saves exaggerated beyond belief. Routine saves are suddenly “pretty decent” and decent saves suddenly become “world class”. Had AM still been in nets, we’d have had 2 clean sheets this week, no doubt in my mind. 

It is possible for 2 things to be true at the same time - I don't think AM would have stopped the shot vs Sheff Wed either, it came through legs and he seems to be slower getting down to the sides this season, the Blackburn 1st goal was a shocker.

Having said that I also think Baz is not good enough. I hate the way Baz flings himself at everything and seems panicky - that spilled cross he followed up with a decent save stemmed from him not communicating, making a clear call and getting Wood out the way then catching it. We should have cut our losses on him some time ago and got someone better than him or AM for this season.

[Jack]

7 hours ago, Whitey Grandad said:

Surely you can't mean McCarthy? The same McCarthy who in his five appearances recently conceded 8 goals? Some of those were world-class balls ups.

Which goals would you directly blame on McCarthy? Other than the one at Liverpool, I’m struggling. He’s not to blame for us being defensively all over the place this season. 
 

He’s far more commanding, will come for a cross, and I’m sure he’d have done far better with the 2 shockers that Bazunu had in the last week. It’s baffling to me that some people don’t think he’s a better keeper than Bazunu. 

[Ekelund24]

On 09/11/2025 at 09:08, Sheaf Saint said:

The goal wasn't a howler, by any means. I'm more pissed off with the outfield players who just stood off and allowed Amass to breeze through our midfield and get a shot away completely unchallenged. But Baz was incredibly slow to react, as he always is. Quite simply, a more competent keeper saves that nine times out of ten. Whereas with Baz there's never any question that shots like that will go in, every fucking time.

But the bigger howler for me, that he got away with, was when he punched a cross that even a mediocre keeper could easily have caught, got no height or distance at all on the punch and it fell nicely to an oppo player in the box. This meant he then had to tip over the resulting shot, and once again he did that party trick of his to make a straightforward save look more challenging than it really was.

I think Bannan fairly blocked off Jander which gave Amass the space to drive forward to take the shot. I don't think it helps  Bazunu that when he dives down low it looks slow

 

[Mboto Gorge]

16 hours ago, Whitey Grandad said:

Surely you can't mean McCarthy? The same McCarthy who in his five appearances recently conceded 8 goals? Some of those were world-class balls ups.

Being that you refuse to hear any criticism against Bazunu, Could you explain what attributes he has has that make him better than McCarthy? I’ll start - his kicking. Anything else?

 

I’m starting to think you’re either a personal friend or related to him. Because anyone with eyes who doesn’t have a personal connection to him, can see he’s the worst goalkeeper to ever have played for Saints, particularly for the number of games he’s played. 

Edited November 10 by Mboto Gorge

[23rdSaint]

[Willo of Whiteley]

I don’t think Bazunu is the worst keeper to play for Saints, but as I’ve said before picking between him and McCarthy is like being given the option of stepping on cow shit or dog shit.

There is no decent option. Both should be doing better in their own right.

AM gets beaten at his near post on every shot and has no real authority or leadership presence at the back, which is surprising for someone of his age.

GB makes a couple of good saves occasionally but my god he screws up some very basic saves, he isn’t overly commanding in his area, very much like 50p wrists when he goes to punch the ball clear it could fall to anyone.
An example is Saturday against Sheffield Wednesday, he made a cracking save over the bar, but only because he came out, scuff-punched the cross on an opposition player who then hit the ball at him.

Ive also said on both of them before, id rather have a wheelie bin in goal than either of them. 

[Midfield_General]

They’re both embarrassingly shit.

Spors had a chance to fix it in the summer, and even spent the time going into the market to buy a goalkeeper, but rather than trying to upgrade he instead wasted a squad place on Long, who was obviously somehow even worse than both of them. It was a ridiculous decision then, and it’s coming home to roost now as we just rotate between them, watching them both drop clangers every few games because neither is good enough. 

It was a major fuck up by Spors, to add to his growing collection along with promising to upgrade the spine and then signing Quarshie and Downs, and appointing Still. Three cataclysmic errors which currently look like they are going to cost us any chance we could have had of promotion. 

He needs to pull something amazing out of the bag with the next managerial appointment, otherwise he's proved conclusively that he's not up to the job as far as I'm concerned. 

Edited November 11 by Midfield_General

[Saint86]

4 hours ago, 23rdSaint said:

Macca really is terrible for us as a side. Back to back wins since he's been dropped.

[HKsaint]

My wish this Christmas is to sell him to Pompey. 

[Saint86]

We need to resolve the keeper situation on Jan 1st.

[Verbal]

1 hour ago, Saint86 said:

We need to resolve the keeper situation on Jan 1st.

So that's a New Year's resolution then - broken by 2 Jan, as per. 

[AlexLaw76]

No idea where the data is drawn from? But hard to disagree

 

[Saint86]

2 hours ago, AlexLaw76 said:

No idea where the data is drawn from? But hard to disagree

 

If this is true, it really does highlight that they're both poor keepers and it suggests to me that we should be playing bazunu frankly. If we're only conceding about -0.25 goals per game more with him in the side (vs macca) then its really not as bad as i was expecting - I was honestly expecting that to be far worse... i.e. 1+... Against that, we're able to actually play a higher line and operate with a sweeper keeper, are far better in possession, and have access to his kicking for fast counters. Its horses for courses, if we're going to go for Dyche style football and park the bus, then play macca as he'll fair better with the shots, but anything else and i think it does call for bazunu (Macca for example never makes that Wrexham 1-1 save first game of the season, and he's awful with his feet and passing the ball around the back - see newcastle away first game last season etc).

Either way, 1st jan we need to have a new keeper through the doors.

Edited November 11 by Saint86

[Scummer]

One interesting thing we did on Saturday, which I don't think I have seen before. We had a corner and pushed all ten outfield players up, with Bazunu on the half way line in case it was cleared. Not sure whether it is a good or bad tactic, but we'd never have tried that with McCarthy in goal

[Chez]

11 minutes ago, Scummer said:

One interesting thing we did on Saturday, which I don't think I have seen before. We had a corner and pushed all ten outfield players up, with Bazunu on the half way line in case it was cleared. Not sure whether it is a good or bad tactic, but we'd never have tried that with McCarthy in goal

I'd like to see us push two or three up when we are defending corners. I wonder if that would give our keeper a little more room to come claim a deeper cross. More room for attackers of course.  

[DT]

18 hours ago, Willo of Whiteley said:

I don’t think Bazunu is the worst keeper to play for Saints, but as I’ve said before picking between him and McCarthy is like being given the option of stepping on cow shit or dog shit.

There is no decent option. Both should be doing better in their own right.

AM gets beaten at his near post on every shot and has no real authority or leadership presence at the back, which is surprising for someone of his age.

GB makes a couple of good saves occasionally but my god he screws up some very basic saves, he isn’t overly commanding in his area, very much like 50p wrists when he goes to punch the ball clear it could fall to anyone.
An example is Saturday against Sheffield Wednesday, he made a cracking save over the bar, but only because he came out, scuff-punched the cross on an opposition player who then hit the ball at him.

Ive also said on both of them before, id rather have a wheelie bin in goal than either of them. 

I know you'll hate this, but I agree with every word you've said here. 😉

Edited November 11 by DT

[Willo of Whiteley]

13 minutes ago, DT said:

I know you'll hate this, but I agree with every word you've said here. 😉

I must admit I’ve done the same for you in the past 😅

[TheAlehouseBrawlers]

4 hours ago, Saint86 said:

Either way, 1st jan we need to have a new keeper through the doors.

The only way that happens is if someone buys Ramsdale in Jan. Only loaning him in the summer ruled out bringing anyone other than a third choice in, he was never coming back so should have tried harder to sell.

And he’s now said he already wants to make the Newcastle move permanent 

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/aaron-ramsdale-makes-newcastle-united-32833060.amp

[Jack]

15 hours ago, Saint86 said:

Macca really is terrible for us as a side. Back to back wins since he's been dropped.

Back to back wins despite Bazunu being back in the side. You really can’t give Bazunu any praise for those wins, he made them harder work than they needed to be 

[saintant]

8 hours ago, AlexLaw76 said:

No idea where the data is drawn from? But hard to disagree

 

Also hard to disagree with what I see with my own eyes every time he plays.

[saintant]

5 hours ago, Saint86 said:

If this is true, it really does highlight that they're both poor keepers and it suggests to me that we should be playing bazunu frankly. If we're only conceding about -0.25 goals per game more with him in the side (vs macca) then its really not as bad as i was expecting - I was honestly expecting that to be far worse... i.e. 1+... Against that, we're able to actually play a higher line and operate with a sweeper keeper, are far better in possession, and have access to his kicking for fast counters. Its horses for courses, if we're going to go for Dyche style football and park the bus, then play macca as he'll fair better with the shots, but anything else and i think it does call for bazunu (Macca for example never makes that Wrexham 1-1 save first game of the season, and he's awful with his feet and passing the ball around the back - see newcastle away first game last season etc).

Either way, 1st jan we need to have a new keeper through the doors.

I've seen zero evidence of this.

[Sheaf Saint]

5 hours ago, Saint86 said:

Macca for example never makes that Wrexham 1-1 save first game of the season

Except he did. A couple of weeks later at Norwich...

https://youtube.com/clip/Ugkxk9a9OQRgBPYSLuWXbpfBEVd8z-S3dXwk?si=yvIiWA6Z28taiZfR

There is no version of reality in which Bazunu is a better shot stopper than McCarthy.

[tdmickey3]

10 minutes ago, saintant said:

I've seen zero evidence of this.

Yep, he does nothing of the sort, but does smash it up the park when panicked

[saintant]

3 minutes ago, tdmickey3 said:

Yep, he does nothing of the sort, but does smash it up the park when panicked

Agree. I know he joined in the playing from the back under Russboy but when he tries it now it all looks rushed and ends up in one of our defenders panicking and launching it long so achieves nothing.

[East Kent Saint]

Is there any point to have this thread ? He is a poor keeper full stop.

My late friend who attended at St Mary's with me always referred to Forster as "my friend Forster " as I always said "Oh no only Forster to beat" 😄

Edited November 12 by East Kent Saint

[Stud mark of doom]

On 11/11/2025 at 15:47, Sheaf Saint said:

Except he did. A couple of weeks later at Norwich...

https://youtube.com/clip/Ugkxk9a9OQRgBPYSLuWXbpfBEVd8z-S3dXwk?si=yvIiWA6Z28taiZfR

There is no version of reality in which Bazunu is a better shot stopper than McCarthy.

In that Norwich game, I recall thinking we would have been 3 or 4 down with baz in nets, before we scored 

[losgigantes]

Didn’t shine for the little he had to do. Still a problem area for me.

[S-Clarke]

15 hours ago, losgigantes said:

Didn’t shine for the little he had to do. Still a problem area for me.

Maybe this is the new tactic - blow away teams in 20 mins, and then we can afford the 1 or 2 Baz drop ins without harming our game.

Yesterdays goal was your typical Bazunu goal really, not a howler at all - but another one which you go away thinking could he have got to that. It's the constant theme throughout the 4 years.

[beancounter saint]

There seems to be a reluctance to give Bazunu any credit on here. While some aspects of his goalkeeping leave a lot to be desired I think his ability to join in the fast accurate passing with the defence played a huge part in the attacking speed we were able to display yesterday and led directly to at least one goal. The current management clearly think that the positives outweigh the negatives when compared to McCarthy and I agree. 

[HKsaint]

I think so long as we score 5 goals every game, I have no problem with Bazunu remains our goalie. 

[Lee On Solent Saint]

33 minutes ago, beancounter saint said:

There seems to be a reluctance to give Bazunu any credit on here. While some aspects of his goalkeeping leave a lot to be desired I think his ability to join in the fast accurate passing with the defence played a huge part in the attacking speed we were able to display yesterday and led directly to at least one goal. The current management clearly think that the positives outweigh the negatives when compared to McCarthy and I agree. 

Yes, but his primary role is to save shots on goal. Something that he has proved time and time again to be not very good at. 

[Lighthouse]

Four out of five wins this season with Baz in goal.

Every other keeper combined has won six league games since February 2022.

[SaintsRoyalty]

13 minutes ago, beancounter saint said:

There seems to be a reluctance to give Bazunu any credit on here. While some aspects of his goalkeeping leave a lot to be desired I think his ability to join in the fast accurate passing with the defence played a huge part in the attacking speed we were able to display yesterday and led directly to at least one goal. The current management clearly think that the positives outweigh the negatives when compared to McCarthy and I agree. 

Yeah that’s a load of rubbish. Even if he’s got feet like Messi there is a lot that needs to happen and go well with the ball from our goal line to their one. He plays absolutely no part in the game and arguably is only marginally better than a training cone. I think most would agree that it would be reasonable to suggest to the opposition team that if they get shots off on target there is a high chance of them going in.

we have had a lot of contenders for players that should never have even had a career at school level, but this guy is beyond that. I genuinely think there is something not quite right with him. The way he plays the game is beyond even anything you’d expect of your semi fit male colleague you invite down to a works tournament to make up the numbers. There are three bare essentials you need to even be considered for a career as a goalkeeper, positioning, good spring and strong arms/hands. Obviously only the best keepers in the world are strong in all three areas but they posses all of these traits and might excel in one. Gavin Bozo the Clown Bazunu is weak in all three areas. Even his most delusional supporter must admit he can do better in all three areas.

Yesterday’s goal is a classic example. If you watch the build up to the goal, as the cross comes in, he shifts a number of steps to his right which leaves two thirds of his goal free. Just better positioning would have prevented that goal.

We have seen time and time again where he has got his hand to balls and the ball has just gone through him. How many goals has he let in at the near post? How can you be a professional athlete with access to a gym all day and have a football overpower the strength in your arm? It’s batshit crazy on every level.

Then we have his spring. I implore you to watch any previous goals scored against him or in future and you will see when he goes to dive he covers hardly any ground at all. That’s why he looks like he goes down in slow motion and can rarely get down to low balls even at his near post.

Then on top of that his decision making is that of a coked up gambling addict. Again, you only need to look at just the last game for an example of any of his bad traits. When he came out to get a ball he was never getting and clattered into their player that would have been a penalty with VAR. Granted it might not had be made too much difference yesterday but in a tight game he’s put us 2 goals down. There was also that moment where a cross came in from the left but was cleared and he for some reason flings himself on the floor. If a child did this in an under 10s game down the common you would ask what on earth is going on there. 

I’m not a big fan of stats and think they have ruined football which was loved because of mercurial talents and moments of brilliance. However, you cannot ignore them when they back up what 90% of fans see with their own eyes. Especially when said stats are repeated season after season. The guy has been the worst keeper in all professional leagues in the country the last 3 seasons I believe? He was the worst keeper in Europe's top 5 leagues 2 years ago and yet is still starting games. 

Of course at the moment his defenders say well McCarthy is no better but the stats say he is. 90% of fans eyes say he is. Also, McCarthy is 35 and at the end of his career, the fact anyone even has to think whether Bazunu is better says it all. There is also the fact we got promoted last time because Bazunu got injured in the crucial last few games and McCarthy was immense in the playoffs. 

Hate is a strong word, and there have been plenty of contenders, but I absolutely hate this guy with a passion. There are always going to be incompetent people out there but this guy is off the charts. It really is akin to hiring someone that flips burgers for a living as a brain surgeon. He is biblically bad and needs to be hounded out of the club by the fans. We know this club is capable of giving him a new contract and having him be a milestone around our neck for the next 5 years plus.

[pingpong]

Here is a blast from the past when you moaners all had the keeper you wanted.

https://www.southamptonfc.com/en/video/highlights-bristol-city-3-1-saints-25-26

Now imagine that was bazunu. He'd have gotten all kinds of grief, especially for their second. 

[S-Clarke]

Throwing the arguments around that ''Well McCarthy is better' ''Well no Bazunu has actually been involved in more wins, he's better'' etc etc, is akin to asking if you'd like to eat dog shit, or human shit.

They're both shit. We've got into a situation with 3 shit goalkeepers on the books, and that needs to be sorted before we before we do anything worthwhile over a consistent period.

[Midfield_General]

20 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

Throwing the arguments around that ''Well McCarthy is better' ''Well no Bazunu has actually been involved in more wins, he's better'' etc etc, is akin to asking if you'd like to eat dog shit, or human shit.

They're both shit. We've got into a situation with 3 shit goalkeepers on the books, and that needs to be sorted before we before we do anything worthwhile over a consistent period.

Preach