Healy Remains Non-Committal on Cooper’s Linfield Future

Linfield manager David Healy declined to discuss Joel Cooper’s long-term prospects with the club following Saturday’s victory against Glenavon, stating only that the winger would participate in the Boxing Day fixture against Glentoran. Healy also downplayed his team’s significant 13-point lead at the summit of the Irish Premiership. Reports indicate that Cooper has reportedly signed a pre-contract agreement with Coleraine, which would facilitate his transfer to the Bannsiders at the conclusion of the current season. The player’s existing contract with Linfield is in its final six months, allowing him to engage in discussions with other clubs. When questioned about whether he had accepted Cooper’s departure at the season’s end, or if he could assure Linfield supporters that the winger would remain at Windsor Park for the remainder of the ongoing campaign, Healy responded: “Joel Cooper wasn’t involved in the game today. I’m here to talk about the game and the performance levels and the next game. “Joel will have rested up and will be ready to go again on Boxing Day. He’ll be fresh and he’ll be fit and I look forward to seeing Joel playing on Boxing Day.” Despite the Blues extending their lead to a substantial 13 points at the top of the league following Saturday’s win, Healy minimized the importance of his team’s considerable advantage. “To me, it’s of no great significance at all. Whether it’s a point or three points or six…..it doesn’t really matter because we’re so early in it,” Healy informed BBC Radio Ulster’s Sportsound. “It was our 20th league game so we’ve 18 to go. We’re barely over half way. A lot of teams now will have the opportunity to go and start hitting form.” Linfield secured three points against Paddy McLaughlin’s Glenavon side after a challenging match, mirroring their struggles in previous encounters against Coleraine and Dungannon Swifts, yet still managing to clinch victory. Healy commented on the recent performance, stating: “It was a really, really tough game. Pleased with the outcome. Nowhere near the levels where we needed to be at but we kept going.” He added, “Credit to Paddy. They made it really difficult for us. We lost possession. We didn’t pick that right pass and we never looked likely of scoring a second goal.”