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

[seanfhear]

Hope so! He needs to keep up his Rovers season ticket.
Prices in Ireland are Gone Mad.

[pineapple stu]

He could almost afford a ticket to a Derry European game on that salary.

Going to be an interesting move though - and a model for the likes of Parrott and even Kelleher that being at a big club isn't everything. Think it's definitely the right call

[nigel-harps1954]

A handy €2m for Rovers if it is 15% sell on fee they have with City.

[Razors left peg]

Prices in Ireland are Gone Mad.

Its not just Ireland!!

[liamoo11]

Was Matic a buy-back when he re-signed for Chelsea?

I think Liverpool have had them in place for the likes of Solanke, Brewster, Ibe and Brad Smith but never activated any of them, although Brewster is still active this summer and next but can't see it happening since they sold him for initially for £24m and he's scored 4 goals in 46 games since then.

City bought back Angelino the full back

[liamoo11]

Best if luck to him you woukd feel if he gets a fair chance he will take that no 1 jersey off mccarthy

[tetsujin1979]

Five year deal confirmed at Southampton. That's a rarity for any position, never mind a 20 year old goalkeeper
https://www.southamptonfc.com/news/2022-06-17/announcement-gavin-bazunu-signing-southampton-football-club-17-june-2022

[JR89]

City due 20% of any future sale, and they've also got a buy back clause in the deal. If the buy back clause is £40m and City buy him back then Southampton would end up with £30m after £2m is taking out for clubs that helped develop him and City get their £8m from the sell on clause.

[tetsujin1979]

Bazunu interviewed on Irish Football Fan TV
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[culloty82]

Certainly looks like he'll be the No 1 choice for Southampton - kept a clean sheet in the first 45 against Leipzig, while McCarthy conceded three in the second half:

https://twitter.com/KennysKids/status/1548327983261184004

[tetsujin1979]

Included in Opta Analyst's list of 50 players to watch this season
https://theanalyst.com/eu/2022/07/players-to-watch-2022-23-analyst-50/#bazunu

[JR89]

He'll get plenty of practice this season as can see Southampton struggling this season.

[Insidetherock]

Didnt get on the pitch v Monaco last night.. ??

[pineapple stu]

Wasn't on the bench either. Picked up a knock?

[tetsujin1979]

Doesn't look like it, will play this weekend against Villareal
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[SkStu]

He will start in their last friendly on Saturday, according to Hassenhuttl in reports, so McCarthy starting yesterday's game was just pre-season rotation. He (McCarthy) didnt cover himself in glory either apparently.

https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/20584392.bazunu-mara-will-play-final-southampton-friendly/?ref=rss

[Insidetherock]

Yeah, looks good for Bazunu I think if he's starting at the weekend

[ontheotherhand]

Southampton fans online seem to want Bazunu over McCarthy but that could just be them hoping for an improvement as they don't seem to rate McCarthy.

Would be fairly confident of Gav nailing down the number 1 spot at some time this season. There will be errors. He may even lose the spot at some point. But within the next 3 seasons he will be linked with a bigger move I think.

[tommy_c12000]

Bazunu has done okay in preseason, he will start the season as number 1. Don’t think this was ever in doubt. He wouldn’t have moved to Southampton otherwise, McCarthy isn’t a much competition in any case. Up to Gav to keep the position with solid performances.

[pineapple stu]

Starts for Southampton today - but they're 4-1 down against Spurs...

[Diggs246]

Starts for Southampton today - but they're 4-1 down against Spurs...

Any goals his fault??

[irishultra]

He's part of the backline, could be a problem of trust and communication, stuff we won't pick up on but could cause him to be dropped.

[pineapple stu]

Any goals his fault??
Seems to be a couple of close range headers going off the Guardian updates, which sounds more like defenders giving too much space than anything else. I'm guessing a bit there, but they don't call him up on things that I can see. One "farcical" own goal too, which always generates a bit of intrigue!

Highlights will be interesting, but encouraging that he's started I guess.

Travers keeping a clean sheet against Villa (1-0 up), while Kelleher on the injury list again of course and not on the bench.

[JR89]

Southampton picking up where they left off from last season which is no shock. They were poor towards the end and better hope a few others struggle this year or they'll find themselves relegated. Bazunu has looked nervous but wouldn't put fault on him for the goals today.

[Eirambler]

Nothing he could do about any of the four goals to be fair to him.

[SkStu]

Nothing he could do about any of the four goals to be fair to him.

Nothing. Watched the game and from early moments you knew it was going to be a long afternoon for Southampton. They were a shambles in transition. But none of the goals his fault or where you’d have thought he could do better.

If I was going to be critical, he seemed a little reticent and did not seem to command his area as much as we’ve seen him do for Ireland. Maybe a little bit of what IU touches on a few posts above.

[nigel-harps1954]

Watched the first half of the game. I thought he put in a good enough performance. Could do little about the goals and pulled off a couple of nice saves. The Southampton backline was a shambles.

[Stuttgart88]

Got tricked by James Maddison for Leicester's goal on Saturday. Not his finest moment.

[nigel-harps1954]

To be fair to him, it was a brilliant free kick. The biggest question mark would be around the placement of the wall, but there's no camera angle I've seen that shows it.

[pineapple stu]

Interestingly, on the highlights here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxpV1NT_8Y8), the co-commentator says "I'm really worried about the wall" before the free is taken. (I presume the commentary is live rather than recorded after, with the sort of silly hindsight that Eurosport made famous back in the day)

[seanfhear]

Interestingly, on the highlights here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxpV1NT_8Y8), the co-commentator says "I'm really worried about the wall" before the free is taken. (I presume the commentary is live rather than recorded after, with the sort of silly hindsight that Eurosport made famous back in the day)
Brendan Rogers might be available soon if he does not start getting a few results for Leicester. I wonder if he fancies international management at relatively low wages ?

Interesting to see where Rogers would go next if his Leicester sojourn comes to an end ?

[MichaelCherrito]

Brendan Rogers might be available soon if he does not start getting a few results for Leicester. I wonder if he fancies international management at relatively low wages ?

Interesting to see where Rogers would go next if his Leicester sojourn comes to an end ?

Given the fact he speaks Italian and Spanish, it wouldn't be strange seeing him pursue a career on the continent.

Good game by Bazunu. Two brilliant saves in the first half, one of them from point-blank range. He played as a last man in defence for the Saints, was very alert when having to go out for a United long ball.

Perhaps a bit hesitant in a couple of high crosses, his defenders dealt with the ball well. Little to do regarding the goal, Fernandes placed the ball in the low corner, it was unstoppable.

[joey B]

Excellent last night again by all accounts,great to see him in good form ......

[sadloserkid]

The Villa goal last night won't be one he looks back on fondly. Not a calamity but his hand wasn't as strong as you'd expect. He's had a good season overall so far, was highlighted before the game on Sky for this but not his best moment.

[nigel-harps1954]

I think he'll be disappointed with it. Made a decent save but didn't push it away far enough. Another inch or two higher and it was over the bar and we'd all be calling it a great save. Fine lines at that level. Another learning curve for him.

[Stuttgart88]

The Villa goal last night won't be one he looks back on fondly. Not a calamity but his hand wasn't as strong as you'd expect. He's had a good season overall so far, was highlighted before the game on Sky for this but not his best moment.
I thought he got too solid a hand to it, or got to it a touch early. It's an outcome-dependent save - if it drops over the bar it's a great save, like one of his saves in Azerbaijan. I think it's one where a lighter touch safely gets it over the bar. Unlucky not to get away with it but I think it's an error.

[ontheotherhand]

It's a game of inches etc. He will be disappointed with it but I'd imagine he will make worse mistakes in his career. He's stepped up to the level really well so far but there will be plenty of errors to come. He's 20.

[ontheotherhand]

Not great at all for Everton's second. Ball is hit at him with force but he almost Matrix dives out of the way.

Southampton are so poor though. He gets very little help from what I can see.

[SkStu]

In the top ranked u21 team in the world according to this:

1577035417010200576

[JR89]

Finally got his first clean sheet tonight.

[irishfan86]

Finally got his first clean sheet tonight.

Looked pretty solid apart from dropping the ball in stoppage time, nearly costing his team the win. Growing pains and all that with a young goalkeeper but I noticed that in another recent game where he had a few weak clearances/punches.

He?s largely doing well but I think needs to improve on dealing with crosses and corners.

[seanfhear]

If other teams see this as a weakness. They will give him plenty of practice.

[irishfan86]

Perhaps as he fills out a bit he?ll get more confident. But fundamentally he needs to get better at judging whether to catch or punch those floating balls into the area, and if he does decide to punch, really get better at making proper contact.

In I believe Southampton?s previous match I counted something like three or four really poor punches. He got to the ball first, disrupted the attack in each case, but did not get proper distance.

He is very young for a top level keeper so I?m not trying to be overly critical here but it is an area he needs to target for serious improvement.

[JR89]

Very young and it's probably the main reason he chose to leave City to get this experience and tested at the highest level. Could have took the easy option and signed the new contract City offered and stayed there as second choice.

[irishfan86]

Yep not trying to knock Bazunu. He's got great natural talent, a tremendous attitude by all accounts -- and is on a trajectory that has all of us very hopeful. Just highlighting where he's at right now as it will be relevant if he's going to be The Guy during our qualification matches next year.

[pineapple stu]

Hasenhuttl sacked today as Southampton manager. MotD last night had a stat that since March, they had conceded something like ten goals more than xG. You can argue the extent of its usefulness for sure, but it is used and they do have a poor defensive record - only Leicester, Forest and Bournemouth have conceded more, and Leicester are turning things around with only one goal (against Man City) conceded in the last five. Plus a new manager always looks to bring changes anyway, so it may be a worry that what happened to Travers might happen to Bazunu as well now.

Time will tell I guess.

[JR89]

Unless the new manager is allowed to bring in a new keeper I'd say Bazunu will be alright. Can't see them going back to McCarthy and Bazunu is their big summer signing so don't see the board sanctioning a move for a new keeper.

In the 14 PL games they've played this season they've only conceded more than one goal in 4 of those games. Just happens to be three of those four games they conceded four goals.

If a new manager comes in and can get them organised it should fix some problems because it's often like Moses parting the red sea the way opposition teams can cut through them on the attack.

[ifk101]

Only Wolves and Everton have scored less than Southampton. Issues both ends of the pitch. I suppose that's why they are bottom 3 and sacked their manager?

[pineapple stu]

Definitely issues at both ends - though they've no Irish forwards, so I didn't care about the lack of goals :)

I'd be wary of dismissing the problem as a leaky defence because similar was said here about Travers before he was dropped. A change of manager can be a risky time for any player really. If a new manager has a contact and can bring in players with him, the Board may go with that if it keeps them in the land of printing money.

He's probably safer than Travers for sure. But still not an ideal position to be in.

[Stuttgart88]

Just a hunch: I feel Southampton wouldn't suddenly tighten up if, other things being equal, they replaced Bazunu by reinstating McCarthy, but I feel Bournemouth have suddenly loosened up with Travers' return! I haven't seen the weekend's highlights yet though.