I think WOUD deserves a chance at Aucks. He clearly can make a howler, but he has excellent experience and clearly has some potential based on his earlier career.
Not sure if Tzanev was a fans favourite at The Dons?
Newport County were 22nd (3rd last) in L2 last season - 7 pts clear of 23rd - so not avoiding relegation by much. Unlike at Northampton sounds like the Bulgarian-Kiwi will go straight in as the starting GK.
Henry Gray could also end up in L2 also on loan from Ipswich. Him & Tzanev might end up in a shootout to be the 3rd keeper at the World Cup. That's if Sail is out of favour.
https://www.newport-county.co.uk/news/newport-county-catch-keeper-nik Tzanev moved from his native New Zealand to England in 2006 at the age of nine and came through the academy ranks at Chelsea, Crystal Palace and Brentford before joining AFC Wimbledon in 2017 where he made 126 senior appearances as a fans’ favourite.
He signed a one-year contract with League One Northampton in 2024 and made 23 appearances last season.
He is expected to join up with the squad towards the end of the month after taking time off following his involvement with New Zealand in the Canadian Shield.
It’s a major boost for manager David Hughes who was keen to add a quality goalkeeper to his squad following the departure of the long-serving Nick Townsend.
Not sure if Tzanev was a fans favourite at The Dons?
Newport County were 22nd (3rd last) in L2 last season - 7 pts clear of 23rd - so not avoiding relegation by much. Unlike at Northampton sounds like the Bulgarian-Kiwi will go straight in as the starting GK.
Henry Gray could also end up in L2 also on loan from Ipswich. Him & Tzanev might end up in a shootout to be the 3rd keeper at the World Cup. That's if Sail is out of favour.
https://www.newport-county.co.uk/news/newport-county-catch-keeper-nik Tzanev moved from his native New Zealand to England in 2006 at the age of nine and came through the academy ranks at Chelsea, Crystal Palace and Brentford before joining AFC Wimbledon in 2017 where he made 126 senior appearances as a fans’ favourite.
He signed a one-year contract with League One Northampton in 2024 and made 23 appearances last season.
He is expected to join up with the squad towards the end of the month after taking time off following his involvement with New Zealand in the Canadian Shield.
It’s a major boost for manager David Hughes who was keen to add a quality goalkeeper to his squad following the departure of the long-serving Nick Townsend.
Hahahahahahahahahahaha "fan favourite" is hilarious. I met a guy in a pub in London who is a season ticket holder who ranted for 15 minutes non stop about how Tzanev was the worst keeper he'd ever seen and had singlehandedly got them relegated.
Will be interested to see how he goes at Newport though.
Not sure if Tzanev was a fans favourite at The Dons?
Newport County were 22nd (3rd last) in L2 last season - 7 pts clear of 23rd - so not avoiding relegation by much. Unlike at Northampton sounds like the Bulgarian-Kiwi will go straight in as the starting GK.
Henry Gray could also end up in L2 also on loan from Ipswich. Him & Tzanev might end up in a shootout to be the 3rd keeper at the World Cup. That's if Sail is out of favour.
https://www.newport-county.co.uk/news/newport-county-catch-keeper-nik Tzanev moved from his native New Zealand to England in 2006 at the age of nine and came through the academy ranks at Chelsea, Crystal Palace and Brentford before joining AFC Wimbledon in 2017 where he made 126 senior appearances as a fans’ favourite.
He signed a one-year contract with League One Northampton in 2024 and made 23 appearances last season.
He is expected to join up with the squad towards the end of the month after taking time off following his involvement with New Zealand in the Canadian Shield.
It’s a major boost for manager David Hughes who was keen to add a quality goalkeeper to his squad following the departure of the long-serving Nick Townsend.
Hahahahahahahahahahaha "fan favourite" is hilarious. I met a guy in a pub in London who is a season ticket holder who ranted for 15 minutes non stop about how Tzanev was the worst keeper he'd ever seen and had singlehandedly got them relegated.
Will be interested to see how he goes at Newport though.
There are all sorts of reasons the Dons got relegated in 2022 and Tzanev was the least of them
Ramming liberal dribble down your throat since 2009 This forum needs less angst and more Kate Bush threads
Niche Cache. Tzanev to have GK competition at Newport.
It was announced two weeks ago (read about that here) but now that June has faded into July, it can be made official: Nik Tzanev has joined Newport County. He’s linked up with the English fourth tier club (which is actually based in Wales) with the intention of being their starting goalkeeper and potentially earning a spot in the All Whites squad for the World Cup, having recently gotten back into the mix for their tour of Canada.
Nik Tzanev: “I’m really excited to get going. Now I’m in with the lads and the coaches, I just want to crack on, kick-start pre-season, and make sure we begin the season really strong. Everything we’ve discussed is positive. We want to play attacking football but also be hard to beat. We want to run teams over, keep clean sheets, and stay compact as a unit. It’s a big focus this season to be solid defensively and limit the goals we concede. Personally, it’s about building strong relationships with the back line and keeping as many clean sheets as possible. It’s not just about the defence, and we’ve got to work together as a team. I’m really looking forward to it. The fans have a reputation for being passionate and I always try to build that connection with them early on. They’re there every week for us – we want to repay them with strong performances.”
Newport County have also signed 26yo goalie Jordan Wright who played 37 times for Grimsby Town last season before they kicked him to the curb. He’ll be Tzanev’s competition for the gloves. The Exiles, as they’re known, have made six new signings so far with one of those being centre-back Lee Jenkins who previously played alongside NZ’s Zac Jones at Haverfordwest County in the Welsh top flight. No word on what Jones is up to since he left that club but with The New Saints having signed another keeper and already having gotten into preseason it’s looking like that rumour may have been a bit presumptuous.
Good performance in a backs to the wall League Cup Eliminator with Barnet. Less than 25% possession, 6 saves in regulation and 2 in the penalty shootout. Newport get Millwall in the 1st round proper - two AWs keepers going H2H
Plenty of big saves from Nik Tzanev on debut for Newport County in the EFL Cup prelims… including a decisive one in the penalty shootout 🤙 #FlyingKiwispic.twitter.com/ESlnlVw2AN
Nik a couple of good saves in 1st half one from a penalty kick outside the box, he got down low and to his left punching it away Or else it was a goal, second save was from run of play and blasted low and hard from outside of box again he got down to his left preventing a goal. 2nd half just the one easy save that the highlights show, and the goal scored against him was a penalty, CB(?) fell on the back of the strikers legs in the box. So no fault of Nik
League Cup game midweek, Newport verus Millwall so potential AW keeper clash. Though Crocombe likely to start more than Tzanev, if keepers are rotated.
Of all the recent kiwi EFL signings, the guy who’s settled in best is Nik Tzanev. He was a standout in the EFL Cup preliminary win against Barnet, he won plaudits in the 1-1 league draw with Notts County, now he’s put up another strong showing in a 2-1 backs-to-the-wall win away against Crawley Town. Three games gone and Tzanev is already a favourite at his new club. They signed Jordan Wright (formerly of Grimsby Town) at the same time so there was no guarantee that Tanz would be the number one. But he’s already made that a non-issue. Granted, Wright did put up a good display in the 1-0 loss against Max Crocombe’s Millwall in the EFL Cup first round though.
In goal for a 2-3 loss Tzanev a very low 4.8 match rating which seems ominous
Yeah, proper stinker from Nik today. Actually did really well making himself big in the lead up to the first goal, but the Gas bundled it in on the third or fourth attempt.
All downhill from there though. Was lucky to get a goal chalked off after his kick was charged down, not quite as lucky when he passed directly to a Rovers player for the second. The third he flapped at a cross horribly and ended up on the ground and conceded a header.
Newport fans understandably sour about his performance, but the general consensus is that prior to this game he's been okay. Definitely don't want to see him in the WC squad next year though
We do still have Nik Tzanev at Newport County in League Two... though after his superb start there things have gotten kinda stale lately. Chesterfield actually beat Newport 4-1 in the most recent fixture. Newport have taken just one point from their last eight league games and are only one point above last place.Tzanev has played every minute in League Two but he’s conceded 20 goals in those 10 games and is yet to keep a clean sheet for the club.