Southampton manager defends Gavin Bazunu after supporters' moan

ABSOLVED: Gavin Bazunu of Southampton. Picture: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

Southampton manager Russell Martin said Gavin Bazunu did not deserve the flak he took from his side's supporters during Tuesday evening's defeat to Hull in the Championship. The 2-1 loss was Southampton's first at home in five months. 

Hull took the lead in the 11th minute after Jaden Philogene's powerful shot was parried into the path of Anass Zaroury and the Moroccan, on loan at the club from Burnley, finished to the net.

The away side doubled their lead 25 minutes later through Fabio Carvalho. Bazunu played a pass from the edge of his six-yard box to Joe Rothwell but the midfielder was dispossessed by Philogene who played Liverpool loanee Carvalho in to score. It was the type of play which drew the ire of of the home supporters.

"There was a lot of moans at Gavin (Bazunu) when he did stuff with the ball but it’s not on him and he was outstanding when he actually had people to pass to," Martin said in his post-match press conference.

"I really understand the frustration around the whole place but the crowd were amazing in the second half and really stuck with us.

"When you’re not brave enough, it looks disjointed and a bit messy. We have faced that [high press] a lot of times. We went man to man against them and they went with it against us.

"The difference was they were completely all-in and we weren’t. We have a setback early and don’t respond to it. We lacked the courage to be the team we needed to be."

𝘾𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝘾𝙖𝙧𝙫𝙖𝙡𝙝𝙤! 💥

Brilliant pressing from Jaden 👏#hcafc | @McVities pic.twitter.com/ve4IMvIFUQ

— Hull City (@HullCity) February 20, 2024

Joe Aribo pulled one back for Southampton in the 88th minute but they could not find another goal to extend their unbeaten home record. Last week, Southampton lost to Bristol City, ending a 25-match unbeaten run across all competitions. 

After 33 games of the Championship season, Southampton are fourth, 11 points behind leaders Leicester but just two behind Leeds who occupy the second automatic promotion spot. 

"The first half was rubbish," Martin continued.

"The second half was very good but that doesn’t matter very much when you’re 2-0 down.

"No one cares if you play well in the second half when you aren’t good in the first half and are behind. Hull were good but we knew that from the first game.

"[Joe Aribo] was outstanding. Jan Bednarek was incredible. I thought Gavin Bazunu was brave in the second half and the subs had a good impact on the game.

"Kyle Walker-Peters and Ryan (Manning) were also very good in the second half but we didn’t get them on the ball enough in the first.

"We had a good chance with Rothwell before they can get into the game, we don’t take it, and somehow that doesn’t spur us on to go more aggressive.

"Their goal is something we worked on in training yesterday as we’ve seen them do it a lot, so to allow that to happen is absolute nonsense."