Gavin Bazunu G Standard Liege (loan from Southampton) b.2002

[Jolly Red Giant]

If Southampton are promoted they'll replace Bazunu.
I wouldn't be so sure - Southampton will have limited funds and I think they would have to spend their money on defence and midfield (and striker if Adams leaves) - but with Martin's tactics any goalkeeper will suffer in the PL.


Championship loan clubs could not afford his wages (£50k?), even if subsidised. I doubt any would be interested.
My understanding is that he is on £20K a week - which is the top end of the Championship wages.


Relegated Everton would opt for experience - as Southampton should have done in the first instance.
Southampton had experience and it was getting them nowhere - in fact they took a conscious decision to get younger last season - they problem is that you need a spine of experience running through the team and they took that out. 21 is very young for a PL keeper - but as S..88 said - Bazunu was exceptional at Portsmouth. But a season in the championship on loan might have been worthwhile. However, when Southampton came in with the £10m offer - Man City were going to cash in.


PS: As a matter of interest, how much do you reckon Bazunu is worth on the transfer market?
Its hard to predict - and I don't really care to be honest - his value is irrelevant to the Irish team - his ability is what is important. I don't see him leaving Southampton for the foreseeable future thought with another 3 years on his contract.

[tetsujin1979]

I have raised this before - his goalkeeping coach at Southampton, Dean Thornton, never played at professional level - he gave up football at 19 because of injuries and went into coaching. Now - he might be very good - but unlike other positions on the pitch - I think that you really need the experience of having played as a goalkeeper at the professional level to be a capable goalkeeping coach.
Let's take a look at the goalkeeping coaches in the Premier League


Team

Goalkeeping Coach



Arsenal

Iñaki Caña



Aston Villa

Francisco Javier Garcia



Bournemouth

Neil Moss



Brentford

Manu Sotelo



Brighton & Hove Albion

Ricard Segarra



Burnley

Jelle ten Rouwelaar



Chelsea

Hilario



Crystal Palace

Dean Kiely



Everton

Alan Kelly, Jnr



Fulham

Hugo Olivera



Liverpool

John Achterberg



Luton Town

Kevin Pilkington



Manchester City

Richard Wright



Manchester United

Richard Hartis



Newcastle United

Adam Bartlett



Nottingham Forest

Rui Barbosa



Sheffield United

Matt Duke



Tottenham Hotspur

Rob Burch



West Ham United

Xavi Valero



Wolverhampton Wanderers

Neil Cutler



Not a lot of Premier League experience there, quite a few of them don't have wikipedia pages, so their careers weren't enough to write about
The current head of goalkeeping at the FA, Tim Dittmer, has underage caps for Ireland, don't think he ever played at a higher level than non league

[elatedscum]

Liverpool’s assistant goalkeeping coach won over 100 caps for Brazil. Do the assistant coaches have higher level experience? ;)

[pineapple stu]

Klopp, Emery, Postecoglu, Howe and others never played Premier League either. Wouldn't trust them fellas

And don't get me started on Mourinho, Hodgson, Villas-Boas and Brian Kerr...

[Jolly Red Giant]

Where did I say 'Premier League experience' ?

here is the quote 'I think that you really need the experience of having played as a goalkeeper at the professional level to be a capable goalkeeping coach'

Futhermore - I didn't rule it out the possibility of a non-professional goalkeeper becoming a good goalkeeping coach. I was referring specifically to Dean Thornton - who does not appear to be doing a particularly good job with Bazunu.

If the stats guys are going to throw crap then at least make it relevant crap.

[tetsujin1979]

Where did I say 'Premier League experience' ?

here is the quote 'I think that you really need the experience of having played as a goalkeeper at the professional level to be a capable goalkeeping coach'

Futhermore - I didn't rule it out the possibility of a non-professional goalkeeper becoming a good goalkeeping coach. I was referring specifically to Dean Thornton - who does not appear to be doing a particularly good job with Bazunu.

If the stats guys are going to throw crap then at least make it relevant crap.Not a lot professional level experience in that list either, as mentioned by the lack of wikipedia entries for a few of them
And I made a point that Dittmer never played above non league level

[pineapple stu]

But is Wikipedia the measure of a good goalkeeping coach?

It's becoming more common for coaches to have less, or less impressive, professional experience.

The Premier League is a billion pound, hugely competitive, industry. I don't think they're routinely hiring beginners in key positions. Or if they are, then a lack of a Wikipedia entry doesn't define it. Let them be judged on their own merits

[tetsujin1979]

The point I was making was that their careers weren't notable enough for a Wikipedia entry, but they're still top quality coaches

[pineapple stu]

Fairy nuff; I think I'm agreeing with you so! Apologies!

[Jolly Red Giant]

Not a lot professional level experience in that list either, as mentioned by the lack of wikipedia entries for a few of them

Not true - I think all of the above list of goalkeeping coaches were professional goalkeepers during their careers.

[tetsujin1979]

Not true - I think all of the above list of goalkeeping coaches were professional goalkeepers during their careers.
Which ones

[Jolly Red Giant]

Which ones
Most if not all of them - run a search -

[tetsujin1979]

Most if not all of them - run a search -
nope, you do it.

[Jolly Red Giant]

nope, you do it.
Seriously - you are the one who brought up the PL goalkeeping coaches - not me.

My comment was that - in my opinion - to be a good goalkeeping coach you needed to play at a professional level. That was said in the context of the coach at Southampton - a coach who never played as a professional - and who hasn't seemed to be able to develop Bazunu one iota this season.

And by the way a cursory search shows most of the PL coaches were professional keepers - there are a couple you would have to dig deeper on but I sure they would be similar.

[Asterix]

Has picked up an achilles injury during warm up apparently.

[tetsujin1979]

Seriously - you are the one who brought up the PL goalkeeping coaches - not me.

My comment was that - in my opinion - to be a good goalkeeping coach you needed to play at a professional level. That was said in the context of the coach at Southampton - a coach who never played as a professional - and who hasn't seemed to be able to develop Bazunu one iota this season.

And by the way a cursory search shows most of the PL coaches were professional keepers - there are a couple you would have to dig deeper on but I sure they would be similar.
That's not an answer. Which PL goalkeeping coaches had a professional career?

[pineapple stu]

Has picked up an achilles injury during warm up apparently.
Strangely Lumley was originally on the bench, but after the injury McCarthy has been brought in to start and Lumley is still on the bench.

[CraftyToePoke]

That's not an answer. Which PL goalkeeping coaches had a professional career?

I don't think many of them had at all tets which brings into question how much more of his essayist lecturing on here is all in his mind too, does it not ?

[Colbert Report]

How bad is the injury?

[seanfhear]

Southampton won 3-0 as it goes.

[Jolly Red Giant]

That's not an answer. Which PL goalkeeping coaches had a professional career?
Okay

I'll take the bait - and its not an exhaustive list as I am not spending my time going through foreign language sites.

Iñaki Caña
Neil Moss
Jelle ten Rouwelaar
Hilario
Dean Kiely
Alan Kelly
John Achterberg
Kevin Pilkington
Richard Wright
Adam Bartlett
Rui Barbosa
Matt Duke
Rob Burch
Xavi Valero
Neil Cutler

[Jolly Red Giant]

How bad is the injury?
Depends on the damage done - achilles injuries are difficult to heal - a minor injury is 2-3 weeks of rest - a rupture is a minimum 12 weeks immobilisation if completely torn. The big problem is that these injuries can re-occur.

[Jolly Red Giant]

Southampton won 3-0 as it goes.
Yea - something like 80% possession - I don't think Preston had an attempt on goal.

[seanfhear]

Yea - something like 80% possession - I don't think Preston had an attempt on goal.
Great game for a goalkeeper.

[JR89]

One shot all game and it was on target going by Livescore.

[Jd2793]

horrible injury ffs. martin claims it was a bad one aswell. hopefully scans come back with some positive news

[Jolly Red Giant]

horrible injury ffs. martin claims it was a bad one aswell. hopefully scans come back with some positive news
yea - looks like he is done for the season - and that is not necessarily a bad thing. One of the biggest risk factors for reoccurrence is returning too quickly and not letting it heal properly. Rushing back for the playoffs might not be a good thing.

Just looking at some of the stats - and here is where they are very useful - only 4% of achilles injuries are partial or total rupture of the tendon. The average recovery time for a non-rupture injury is 23 days - for a partial or total rupture is 169-183 days. Worryingly - achilles injuries tend to happen to older players - it not good when you suffer such injuries at a younger age - the average age for the first such injury is in the 27-29 years group. 27% of all achilles injuries are re-injuries. 31% occurrence from short term (because players rush back) - 13% for longer-term injuries (this stuff is from the BMJ).

[Stuttgart88]

Yea - something like 80% possession - I don't think Preston had an attempt on goal.I watched first half. Southampton utterly dominant. I could have been in goal and it'd have made no difference!

In one sense it's maybe not a bad thing he's out of the firing line but I was hoping to see him in a play off final. I hope it's not too serious of course though.

[ontheotherhand]

Sad for Bazunu but at least this thread will be quiet for a while.

[Stuttgart88]

Yep, the thread is playing with my brain. I've seen so many goals in the last week or so, EPL, Championship and L1 and also including Dortmund against Oblak for Atletico (I don't think many doubt Oblak's placing among the better goalkeepers in Europe) and Donnaruma vs Barca where Baz would have been crucified here had he conceded them in the same way!

[JR89]

Sad for Bazunu but at least this thread will be quiet for a while.

Make that 9 to 10 months.

Manager confirms he's had surgery for a ruptured achilles tendon and will be out for 9 to 10 months.

[pineapple stu]

That's a horrible blow. Effectively all of next season - and they'll surely have to sign a keeper now, so no guarantees he'll get his place back either

Mad to think you can get that bad an injury in a pre-match warm-up. Can't remember hearing something comparable tbh

Here's hoping for a full recovery obviously

[Jd2793]

9-10 months is horrible ffs.

[CSAD]

He's just about the only young player in our squad that hasn't had a significant injury yet and felt left out!

[Eirambler]

Best of luck to him in his recovery. It's a bad one but he has time on his side and a lot of experience already banked. Fully expect him to come back stronger after this.

[John83]

That's awful. I can't remember ever hearing of a keeper getting injured for that long.

As an aside, I looked up Peter Cech's big injury at the hands (or knee anyway) of Hunt, which was just 3 months. Cech is currently playing goaltender in ice hockey!

[SkStu]

Absolute gut punch alright for us and for him. At a time when he needed the break he deserved, he gets this. Feel so sorry for him. Debate his ability all you like but he’s also a lovely lad who didn’t deserve this set back.

[seanfhear]

I wonder, had he / Southampton, being nursing this injury ? !

[SkStu]

Pretty sure they are almost 100% acute injuries…

[ontheotherhand]

That's a horrible blow. Effectively all of next season - and they'll surely have to sign a keeper now, so no guarantees he'll get his place back either

Mad to think you can get that bad an injury in a pre-match warm-up. Can't remember hearing something comparable tbh

Here's hoping for a full recovery obviously


Why the qualifier of "obviously" stu? Nobody here really thinks you wish him harm.

[John83]

Nobody?

[pineapple stu]

Why the qualifier of "obviously" stu? Nobody here really thinks you wish him harm.
It's just a meaningless inflection really.

Like "really"

[liamoo11]

Absolute gut punch alright for us and for him. At a time when he needed the break he deserved, he gets this. Feel so sorry for him. Debate his ability all you like but he’s also a lovely lad who didn’t deserve this set back.

The timing isn't the worst in that Southampton won't be trying to rush him back any time next season. He should hopefully be fully fit for preseason June 2025. He has a contract till June 2027.

[ontheotherhand]

Nobody?

Well.....:D


On a serious and maybe overly optimistic note, this may be OK for Bazunu. His rise (with a few dips) from Rovers first team to #1 at a club in the EPL and Championship was pretty fast. I wonder sometimes has he had the chance to really study his game and mistakes on the way. It's fascinating to have Bazunu and Kelleher as the most consistent 2 options for Ireland with both following such different paths, almost to the extreme degree. It makes debating them a bit difficult because, really, they both could have done things a bit better. Kelleher could have played more and Bazunu might have been better off staying with City for a year or two longer to watch Ederson a bit closer and learn from the coaches there.

9-10 months. I wouldn't be at all worried about his mental strength. That's been tested enough. He's also a lad who likes to live cleanly and should handle the rehab just fine. He likes to read and study as well though so a bit of time on the sidelines without the spotlight on him might be just the thing for him at this stage. He's still a huge prospect and if Southampton were to find a better option while he is out, he won't be short of options, even if he has to start again in L1.

[Stuttgart88]

Southampton lose in injury time to another low long shot from distance. Deflected.

[tetsujin1979]

I don't think anyone wants to get promoted our of the championship this season

[JR89]

Battered 5-0 tonight away to Leicester.

[Eirambler]

Promotion for Bazunu, but highly likely that Southampton will need to buy a new first choice keeper this summer given his long term injury. They might have done it anyway. So a decent chance he finds himself as a backup when he gets back fit next year.

[Jolly Red Giant]

Bazunu is not going to be fit until the new year at the earliest - and an Achilles injury is not good for a goalkeeper (jumping can be a problem) - so Southampton will have to bring in another goalkeeper (I hope Kelleher isn't stupid enough to join them). I suspect that Bazunu will be back in goals as soon as he is fit because anyone who comes in will be shipping a hatful of goals every week unless Martin does something to sort out the defence (and that requires Martin having a change in attitude which I don't think he is capable of).

[Razors left peg]

Bazunu is not going to be fit until the new year at the earliest - and an Achilles injury is not good for a goalkeeper (jumping can be a problem) - so Southampton will have to bring in another goalkeeper (I hope Kelleher isn't stupid enough to join them). I suspect that Bazunu will be back in goals as soon as he is fit because anyone who comes in will be shipping a hatful of goals every week unless Martin does something to sort out the defence (and that requires Martin having a change in attitude which I don't think he is capable of).


If they believe that Bazunu is their goalkeeper for the future a loan until January might be what they do, or a loan to the end of the season to cover themselves in case of other injuries while hes recovering, but if they buy a new Keeper it wouldnt look good for Bazunu