Magpies sign former Pompey keeper

Johnson Hippolyte has signed Chris Tardif, the former Oxford United and Portsmouth goalkeeper.

Tardif goes straight into the squad for Saturday’s trip to Dorchester, and the Magpies manager believes he has at last found a solution to the club’s long-term goalkeeping problems.

He said: “To be honest I haven’t been pleased with either of our keepers this season, I don’t care what anyone says.

“You need your goalkeeper to set the tone at the back and neither of our boys have done that. They have played a couple of good games and then thrown one in the net.

“Chris is a goalkeeper with league experience, he will bring a wealth of experience with him and hopefully give us a bit more stability at the back.

“We’ll have a look a him and we’re not stupid we know he will have a look at us. But I think he will make a big difference to us.

The 26-year-old joins the club after leaving Basingstoke Town and played 58 times for Oxford United, and five times for Portsmouth.

In a strange twist of fate Tardif will come face to face with Chico Ramos on Saturday, who lines up for his new team Dorchester after leaving York Road after a bust-up with Hippolyte.

And the Magpies boss admits he expects his former goalkeeper to have a blinder.

He added: “I can tell you know that Chico will have a ‘worldie’ game and will make five or six world class saves and it will be 0-0.

“We beat them at home earlier in the season, so it’s Sod’s Law that we will go there and blow our good away record. But I’m confident the boys can go there and perform and get the result we need.”