Russell Martin has made it clear at The Radio Solent fans forum that he backs Gavin Bazunu as Southampton's number 1 this season and goes further in saying he will be one of the best goalkeepers in the Championship this season.

Russell martin had no preconceptions about Gavin Bazunu when he arrived in the summerand he has now made a very public statement of his confidence in the former Manchester City keeper as hampshirelive have reported from St Mary's this evening at the annual BBC Radio Solent fans forum.

Russel Martin had this to say when asked whether he felt the spine of the Saints team, including the goalkeeper position, still needed to be addressed in the summer transfer window.:

“We don't have a problem with the goalkeeper in my opinion. We have a full international who is 20 years old (Editors Note He is 21). He will take unbelievable learning from last season playing in the team that finished bottom of the Premier League."

"That's not easy for a goalkeeper and it's definitely not easy for a young goalkeeper. Alex McCarthy is really experienced number two, Joe Lumley is a really experienced number three. We have real strength in that department."

“I've been made aware of this narrative around Gav. Last season has happened, you can't impact that. What he can impact is that he’ll be one of the best goalkeepers in the division for how we want to play. If I was going to look at a goalkeeper I'd want to go and sign Gavin Bazunu. His mentality and how he's been, how he's trained and how he played on Saturday "

"Like I said after the game, he doesn't deserve to concede four goals and it’s not his problem at all, it’s the guys in front of him and we will learn from him. So I can only speak from my short time here but Gavin is going to be a brilliant goalkeeper. He can be a huge asset in this club on the pitch financially, whatever you want to call it."

"And as long as he maintains the standards he's had in the last six weeks we'll be more than fine and he has really capable people pushing him every day in training to make sure we bring the best out of him."

So that answers a question or two for some Saints supporters who don't rate Gavin Bazunu, he is the number one choice at the moment and the manager feels he is going to prove that going forward.

If there is a point that Martin is making it is to judge Gavin Bazunu on what he does going forward, not on what happened last season.

Photo: Action Images

saintmark1976 added 21:36 - Aug 15 Is Russell Bazunu Gavin Bazunu’s Dad ? I’m disappointed that Russell Martin appears to have put all his eggs in one basket concerning Gavin Bazunu.His comments tonight are going to make it very difficult it he needs to drop him later on in the season. Nobody has any criticism of Bazunu’s attitude for a very young keeper. The problem is simply that he’s not currently good enough to play at the level being asked of him. In particular his positioning is the worse I’ve ever seen in any keeper ( except perhaps McCarthy ) in all the many years that I’ve watched the team.

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SaintPaulVW added 22:54 - Aug 15 Good to hear RM and JW backing Gav up tonight. It will do his confidence a world of good. He had a tough time last year. It was a steep learning curve not helped by the disorganised team in front of him. No denying he made mistakes last year. This season he needs to show he has learned from them and the club need to give him a settled defence in both formation and personnel. He wasn't at fault for much on Saturday. He suits RM's style. Plus we have other areas that need attention. COYR

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ItchenNorth added 09:14 - Aug 16 Russell was spot on with regards to Bazunu and that's what your no 1 keepers needs to know and now hear publically from his manager to put a lid on a lot of the rubbish you hear online about him. Buzunu is a quality young keeper with a big future and last season is in no way attributed to him. He played as well as you can expect, behind a rubbish defense and fragile team.

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WestSussexSaint added 09:22 - Aug 16 SaintMark, I’m guessing that RM is making these comments to give Bazunu the confidence boost he needs to put in the performances that mean dropping him is not a decision he needs to take. Bazunu made some mistakes last season no doubt but as a young player that is what you expect. This biggest issue was that the defence in front of him simply didn’t give sufficient protection so we were regularly conceding even though many goals were not his fault. My main concern is that this season our defensive qualities don’t seem any better especially with JWP gone and Lavia on his way the centre backs were particularly exposed on Saturday. Also assume that if we get any sort of offer for McCarthy he will be sent on his way before there is any opportunity to reconsider. You cannot have a back up keeper as one of the highest earning players.

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IanRC added 09:40 - Aug 16 Beginning to worry about Martin, we should take Crystal Palace's hand off if they make a decent bid for McCarthy given he is incapable of protecting his near post.
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highfield49 added 10:52 - Aug 16 Two elements of the manager's comments stand out for me, primarily his backing for Bazunu and the thinly veiled opinion on the current defensive frailties. Quite clearly, in my view, we can expect two or three new players in central defensive positions to be recruited much sooner than later. As for McCarthy, of course Martin isn't going to say he's surplus to requirements and put doubts in the minds of clubs looking to take him off our hands. The problem is of course that McCarthy can get paid 40 to 50k a week for the next few months without doing more than turn up for training. Not as bad as Man U trying to shift Maguire but it doesn't help get him off the wage bill.

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Boris1977 added 15:03 - Aug 16 Will Sports republic buy 4 young players who can play averagely in several positions or will they buy two experienced solid out and out CB's ? Bazuna has faced 7 shots on target and let 5 in 2 games. Competent defenders could have reduced that number but it's difficult to defend that stat.
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SanMarco added 17:06 - Aug 16 Which of those 5 were his fault Boris? I am heartened that Martin is not shy to talk about the defending. I don't think his first choice two at CB are fast enough, agile enough or commanding enough. With them we will struggle to stay near the top of the league. I am happy enough with Bazuna as number one but we need a better No. 2 because McCarthy may have been a reasonsible keeper in the past but he ain't now.

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Boris1977 added 10:11 - Aug 17 San Marco it's hard to attribute fault because a keepers job is to organise his defence as well as stop on target shots. As I mentioned better defending may have prevented some of the goals but the stats speak for themselves. We went down from a weak league because of frailties both up front and at the back and one of these frailties has yet to be addressed. I can give credence to the philosophy that the past is done and can't be changed but the past is the only opportunity in life and football to learn how to succeed going forward by not repeating past mistakes.

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