Bazunu Leaves St Mary's ! Are Southampton Really Going To Gamble On An Inexperienced Keeper
Tuesday, 13th Jan 2026 13:37

There has been much written about Southampton transfer, both in and out of the club, not just since Sport Republic arrived but over the last decade, but the transfer movement in the goalkeeping department seems strange to say the least.

The confirmed departure to Stoke City on loan for Gavin Bazunu, seems baffling, his display at Middlesbrough was not great, but in the previous match against Millwall he had kept a clean sheet and made a World Class save to preserve a point, likewise up at Birmingham City he had made several vital saves and was voted man of the match by Sky TV.

Indeed snice his return to the squad in Tonda Eckert's first game and the subsequent run, he had looked a decent keeper and was improving in every game.

Now I am not making this a tribute to Gavin Bazunu, but what I am saying is that whenever a player leaves a football club, that you should be trying to replace him with a better player.

Of course that isn't always possible, if you are selling Virgil Van Dijk to Liverpool for instance as we did 7 years ago for a British record transfer fee, its going to be hard to replace him for someone better.

But if we are going to replace Bazunu it has to be an upgrade.

The Irishman get a bit of a raw deal, people tend to forget that he was part of a side who had the best defensive record in the Championship in our 22 game unbeaten run two seasons ago, so from that perspective we are loaning out a keeper who has played 92 League games for the club in both the Premier League & Championship.

Add other clubs and competitions and he has 189 games to his name, so he is fairly experienced for a keeper, especially given he is only 23.

However I am not complaining about letting him go out on loan, my gripe is about who we seem to be replacing him with.

Daniel Peretz is a keeper who at 25 years old has very little experience at even a level equivalent to the Championship, 70 or so games in the Israeli League is not a big test and although he has been a Bayern Munich player, he has barely played for them or Hamburg whom he has spent the first half of this season, playing just two games in the German Cup.

He has barely played in a year and for that matter just 9 club games for either club in any competition since joining Bayern in the summer of 2023.

If we have aspirations of promotion, then we need to bring in someone who is proven at this level, someone who is match fit, match sharp and can bring some sort of organisation and stability to a somewhat shaky defence.

I have said for all of this season, the problem in conceding goals is not the goalkeeper but the defending in front of him.

That was the case in Gavin Bazunu's opening spell in goal this season, when Alex McCarthy came in nothing changed, in fact it got worse.

When Bazunu returned he put in some good displays, but the problem was still in front of him.

Peretz's debut at Doncaster Rover's should have been simple, playing a side who were second of bottom of League One, also the back 3 was ditched for a back four, what could go wrong.

The first half went well and Peretz chipped in with a decent save to keep the score at 3-0 at half time.

But the problem was nothing had changed in the defence, we could not deal with pace or strength and we were a shambles.

This didn't help Peretz on his debut, but he didn't help himself either, looking all at sea for the first goal and standing and watching the second.

I hope that this was just a symptom of his only arriving a day or two before, but that doesn't lessen my worry.

If we truly have ambitions of promotion, then we need to improve on Bazunu, but I do not see that at the moment.

So the question is whether we are intending with sticking with him for the rest of the season and hoping that it all works out, because if it doesn't we are up the creek without a paddle, or if we do have a plan B and if Peretz does not impress in the two games in the next 7 games we will press the panic button and have an experienced goalkeeper lined up to step in and i do not mean Alex Mccarthy.

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andywelsh added 14:30 - Jan 13

Having just watched brief highlights it’s hard not to agree with you. Perez should have punched away the first goal and was caught flat footed for the second. Hopefully he will improve but if Bazunu had conceded those goals the criticism would have been deafening. The German football experts at the club hopefully know more than us, but on the surface it seems a strange decision.
In terms of the defence I think our problems are often caused by our midfield being overrun when teams aggressively press us. I think Romeu was brought in to add bite but has looked well short of match fitness. You can’t help feeling that there is a good side in there somewhere waiting to get out as shown by initial results under Tonda. Recent displays have been puzzling. I really wouldn’t want to predict what’s going to happen now.

underweststand added 14:34 - Jan 13

Seems you've made your mind up on Peretz already (Nick)...or? I thought he was a breath of fresh air. One tremendous throw-out that landed near the halfway line and an excellent save in the first half and a double-save at the end when under the cosh.

Many goalkeepers may seem inexperienced if they only have a few games behind them, namely because unless they are first choice they sit on the bench every week and their only real chance of game time is if the No.1 is injured, or gets the flu'. At Bayern he was lucky to get anything at all, as Neuer is World class.¨

Yes we conceded 2 goals v. Donnie, but not sure I would blame him, and once again if you take another look at the positioning of our defenders we defended rather poorly.
Maybe best to make a measured judgement after 3 or 4 games and see how he makes out but a lot of people on this site might well say ..can he be worse than Bazunu?

StAnt added 14:37 - Jan 13 Any replacement for the calamitous Bazunu is an upgrade. He has been a disaster we've had to endure for four years. He will continue to loiter around the bottom of the tables for worst goalkeeper as he always has done. Finally SR have faced this reality and acted but I fear we'll be stuck with him when he returns from this loan.
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Monksway added 15:13 - Jan 13

Like many supporters I don't think there is a lot to choose between McCarthy and Bazunu, both have been at the club a long time so we've seen their strengths and weaknesses during that time. Peretz is an unknown quantity. He may be an upgrade but most likely will have his own strengths and weaknesses but something had to change and given our position in the league and financially, it was only ever going to be a loan from abroad. To be fair in replacing the goalkeeper and selling Edwards and loaning Downs, SR have created the squad space for a new centre back and centre forward. Let's hope we get what we need and strengthen the spine of the team in every sense.

SaintPaulVW added 15:54 - Jan 13 Something had to happen. We cannot go on swapping from one bad keeper to another after the latest really bad performance. McCarthy is weak at the near post and Bazunu is vulnerable on the far post. As Stoke has a great defence we will now see how good Bazunu is as a keeper.
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kingolaf added 16:50 - Jan 13 Jeremy Beadle would be an improvement on Bazunu.
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saintmark1976 added 17:48 - Jan 13 “ if we truly have ambitions of promotion, then we need to improve on Bazunu. “ I’ll answer for you Nick :- Sports Republic don’t and they haven’t.
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Centurion added 18:04 - Jan 13 But it is a ,clever move and a bit hipster like.
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davidargyll added 18:05 - Jan 13

GOODNESS ME YOU DRIVE ME COMPLETELY NUTS SOMETIMES!
A new man comes in to the team and you expect him to be absolutely brilliant from the first moment.
This guy comes to this country for the first time, with all the resettlement hassle associated with it, a very lengthy journey for his first game, has no experience at all of the pace of the English game, let alone a Cup one, has very little knowledge of how his team mates play.
And yet you expect him to play like Gordon Banks.
Give the poor bloke a break for Christ’s sake…!

pintsizedsaint added 18:22 - Jan 13

A little wider perspective needed here - we have a lot of goalkeepers!

We technically still have Ramsdale and Newcastle have indicated they are not keen on making the deal permanent, so that’s a potential headache. Saints have also made clear that George Long will stay with us for the remainder of the season. Thats 5 GK’s: Ramsdale, Bazunu, McCarthy, Long, Peretz.

Second, Bazunu has been constantly poor. His Opta stats have been at the bottom for a number of seasons. Whilst he’s good with ball at his feet - and occasionally the wonder save - he cannot command the box and is susceptible to corners and corners. He’s been susceptible to failing to cover angles and letting in speculative shots. Thats not a good look. Yea he’s made a few saves but that barely papers over massive cracks.

Whilst Ramsdale is unlikely to return (unless a miracle happens and we return to the PL) we need to ship out - both Bazunu and Macarthys contracts are up this year?

I think you’re being unfair on Peretez - Bayern have seen prospect in him and it’s not his fault Hamburg failed to keep their end of the bargain and give him time (although GK is always a difficult and binary position regarding game time). He is already looking to command the box and provide a bit more stability to a very poor and shaky defence.

Bazunu was never the man to bring out the best in his defence. in fact, he did the absolute opposite.

highfield49 added 18:31 - Jan 13

Whether Peretz will develop into the keeper of our nightmares, or dreams, I feel it's too early to condemn him after one match. Playing in goal is probably the most exposed position on the pitch, especially for a guy who is completely new to the team, the tactics and the country.
Ideally he could have saved both goals but the defence was falling apart in the second half. Doncaster pretty much in control of both wings, getting in crosses and given way too much space and time in the box. Sadly, no change there in recent weeks.
I wasn't at the match, and my opinion is based on viewing extended highlights, but I have one observation to make. I got the impression that Peretz was talking to defenders, sometimes shouting at ball watching players and making his presence felt. So, just maybe, there's hope that he can be the organiser we have lacked for far too long.
The problem being that, no matter who plays in defence, if they're incapable of listening, learning and improving then any organisation is immediately negated.

mushinexile added 18:42 - Jan 13 Yes, it is strange.SR making the right decision is most unusual but Bazunu made thee goalmouth double in size. Good riddance.
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ItchenNorth added 19:53 - Jan 13 Clickbait article. Give the new guy a chance ffs before critiquing everything about the transfer.
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Bowlercow added 22:06 - Jan 13

Bazunu was where our tippy tappy started Perhaps this the SR way of breaking up the cartel of tippy tappy
He was partially impeded for the first goal although should have done better with the second
Shoot from around 18yrds against Baz,low across the keeper and you stood a good chance
I'll wait a half dozen ga.es before making a call on Peretz but agree the SR track record is not good

KilkennySaint added 23:44 - Jan 13 If Bazunu performs at the same standard with Stoke as he did with us it confirms he not a good keeper. If his performances improve and has a decent spell with them you have to seriously question our defenders.
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SNPMT added 23:45 - Jan 13 McCarthy is miles better than Bazunu as a keeper. Obviously, this club without ambition wanted Bazunu in the shop window, so he played. McCarthy isn't a good distributor of the ball but can play goal. Bazunu hasn't made a "world-class" save even in his dreams.
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Jesus_02 added 00:46 - Jan 14

I think its a mental decision to loan out Bazunu. This guy may well be decent, if thats the case buy him and sell Bazunu on in the summer. We seem to have a number of keepers floating around but nothing nailed down. The GK department seems very thin effectivly we have McCarthy and two loan keepers, one of which is not even capable of making the bench at 3rd from bottom Norwich and is only here to make up the numbers in training.

Like the striker situation we seem to fail year on year. Is it really that hard to buy a proven , reliable, experienced GK who is better than Bazunu? Im sick of the hapless attempts at unearthing gems!

FrankSaint added 13:43 - Jan 14 Given the club is apparently chasing another winger to add to our collection aswell, the question remains as to whether the Sport's Rubbish's priority is pony trading or building a team.
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