‘It’s time for young players to become leaders’
GAVIN Bazunu is young enough to be on Under 21 duty in Riga this week yet such is his maturity and experience he feels ready to ‘step up’ his responsibilities within the Republic of Ireland senior squad.
Not many players over the years have dared to engage in such a task. Even Robbie Keane, a regular at 21, demurred to the established leaders such as Roy Keane, Steve Staunton and Kenny Cunningham.
With 18 caps to his name, Bazunu is one of ‘Kenny’s Kids’ that have emerged from their chrysalis and taken flight
‘It’s been mentioned in the group that we have a lot of the senior players who are not in the squad,’ he said.
‘I’s time for a lot of the younger lads, you know we call them young lads but a lot of us have a lot of experience playing at international and club level, to step up and take that (senior) role.
‘We’ve been called young players with a lot of potential, but it’s now time for us to step up as a group, show how good we are as players, and build on this really good culture within the
“We have to build on the good culture in the squad”
squad and start putting in high class performances and getting results.’
Bazunu speaks and carries himself like an elder. As he says, he’s been around ‘a long time’.
His articulation would put manners on some of those debating the Budget in Leinster House this week — few players use ‘fortitude’ and ‘rapport’ when engaging with the press.
Sporting a few whiskers on his chin this week, Bazunu oozes self-confidence, but doesn’t cross the line into arrogance. He is a polite young man, a credit to his family in Firhouse.
He’s also a very fine goalkeeper who will win his 19th cap tomorrow night against Greece in Dublin.
He’s already ahead of Shay Given in terms of caps-per-age and should he stay at the top of his game, there is no reason why he won’t join Given and Co in the Irish ‘Centurion Club’.
The feats of Bonner and Given have long inspired Bazunu to follow the trail they blazed from Euro ’88 to Euro 2012 and become an Irish goalkeeping legend.
‘That was a goal ever since I was a kid but when you get to this level you can’t start thinking like that, you’ve got to take everything one week, one session at a time,’ he said.
‘Every time I step on the pitch, I’m fighting for my place, whether that’s for my club or my country. Never sitting anywhere secure of any position. I’m looking at myself all the time.’
Curiously, Bazunu wasn’t asked much about the Greece return but rather his thoughts on Stephen Kenny, Euro 2028 and his club form at Southampton this season.
Asked if the players were supportive of the management, Bazunu said, ‘Definitely, I think there has never been a sense of anyone working off their own hymn sheet,’ he said.
‘We’ve always been together as a team and we’ve always been a really strong group. Every player on the pitch, every player on the bench, has always been working in the same direction.’
The advent of Euro 2028 is ‘massive’, he agreed.
‘It’s a very exciting moment for us as players and for the fans as well. And it gives us great motivation to be there. That’s what we want to do, we want to be playing at major tournaments for a lot of the squad who haven’t been there.’
Not ‘a lot’ but actually all the players, bar Shane Duffy, have yet to experience a major final, and the glimmer of light around Euro 2024 is likely to be extinguished in this window even if Ireland beat Greece and Gibraltar.
‘For me, as a young kid looking on, you know what it can do to a country to bring us to major tournaments.’
Bazunu has coped admirably with adversity at club level, revealing he has a sports psychologist to lean on when performances are questioned, as was the case this season when Southampton leaked four goals to Norwich and Ipswich, and five to Sunderland.
‘I do have someone I work with both in and outside of the club and a lot of people around me in my circle who I listen to a lot and they are the ones who keep me strong. Finding that balance is massive.
‘There’s been a lot of changes at Southampton and the last games have been a lot more solid. It looks like we are starting to get together as a team.’
Bazunu praised Saints boss Russell Martin for his management style. ‘He’s not just a great man-manager, he also great in terms of his tactics. He talks to you on a level, he doesn’t talk down to you.
‘He’s been brilliant to keep my confidence up and to go into every game with full belief.’