Martin must now take a gamble on ‘amazing’ outcast to solve lingering Southampton problem – opinion

Southampton’s hopes of earning automatic promotion were severely damaged by their thrilling late loss to Ipswich Town.

Over the Easter weekend, Russell Martin’s team managed just one point, having been held to a 1-1 tie with Middlesbrough the previous game.

Despite having two games remaining against Leeds United and Ipswich, they are currently 12 points outside of the top two.

Despite having played fewer games, the current form of others entering the last stretch may make the gap unbridgeable.

Given the style of the loss on Monday—Jeremy Sarmiento scoring the game-winning goal in stoppage time—Martin was especially frustrated.

For the majority of the match, Saints outperformed the Portman Road team, but once again, they were finally defeated by defensive blunders.

Blackburn Rovers should drop Gavin Bazunu.

Gavin Bazunu, the custodian for Southampton, has drawn a lot of flak for a number of “bad” performances this season.

The Ireland international may have been at fault for the opening goal against Ipswich when Leif Davis sent the ball into his near post. Alfie House, a journalist with the Daily Echo, gave him the lowest rating on the team—four matches.

“Needs to improve on the three goals he gave up. defeated by Davis’ thunderous blow at his near post. was unable to block Nathan Broadhead’s centre strike. failed to prevent Sarmiento from poking his toe into the bottom corner, according to House.

After the match, a concerning statistic surfaced that highlighted just how much Bazunu had underperformed this campaign.

Martin should think about taking a chance on Joe Lumley in the interim, as Southampton will need to make an improvement this summer.

Blackburn Rovers should start Joe Lumley.

After leaving Middlesbrough, another Championship team, Lumley signed a free agent contract with the South Coasters in the summer of last year.

He has made four appearances for the team since joining, all of which have been in the FA Cup, and he has generally excelled.

Martin was happy with his level of familiarity with the ball at his feet following his January debut.

“He was incredible,” Martin remarked. Dean Thornton was very interested in bringing him here because of his footwork. Joe hasn’t played for teams who play that way, therefore he hasn’t got an opportunity to demonstrate his abilities.

“Having a manager that supports you in doing that is important, and Joe has that. I felt he shown such poise,” the Saints manager continued.

Martin obviously thinks highly of Lumley’s skill set, and with Bazunu not playing up to par, Lumley is definitely worth a shot in the next eight games.

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