Former Linfield striker backing Joel Cooper 'to clean up in the awards' ahead of Premiership Player of the Year call
Former Linfield striker Matthew Tipton believes Joel Cooper “has been head and shoulders above” every other Irish League performer this season and feels he’s the clear frontrunner to be named Premiership Player of the Year.
Cooper has scored 19 league goals this season to help Linfield reclaim the Gibson Cup crown and it’s widely expected he will seal a clean sweep of personal accolades, starting at this weekend’s inaugural NIFL Football Awards ceremony.
The prestigious NIFWA Player of the Year crown will also be up for grabs next month and if Cooper, who also provided nine assists this term, was to collect the award, he’d become only the fourth player in history to win the accolade on multiple occasions after Ivan Murray, Vinny Arkins and Glenn Ferguson.
With Ulster Footballer of the Year and PFA Northern Ireland Players’ Player Of The Year providing further recognition for the Irish League’s top performer, Cooper could be in line to celebrate significant personal success.
In Saturday’s event, which is being hosted at the Titanic Belfast, Cooper has been nominated alongside team-mate Matthew Fitzpatrick and Coleraine striker Matthew Shevlin, but Tipton insists there should be only one winner.
"Joel has been Player of the Year by far,” said Tipton. “He has been head and shoulders above anybody in the league with the goals he has scored.
"His performances have been at a different level. From everything I've seen this year I can't see anyone getting close to him.
"He has been a magician.
"You see other players and think they've had good months or done quite well across the season, but Joel has been standout.
"It's the magic he has produced, the winning goals that he has scored in tight games and when you're looking at Player of the Year it's always difficult to look outside of the team that won the title.
"Without a doubt for me he's going to clean up in the awards."
Fitzpatrick has also played a key role in Linfield’s latest league triumph – a record-extending 57th – by scoring 12 league goals and Tipton has been impressed with the former Glenavon star’s contribution.
"He offers so much more to the team than just goals,” added Tipton. “If he's not there then Joel wouldn't be getting the goals he has, Kirk Millar wouldn't have someone to deliver the ball to and he's enabling midfielders to get into the box.
"His overall contribution has been brilliant and he's rarely missed a game this season.
"As much as the fans would love to see him scoring 30 or 40 goals, it's a team game and as long as he's doing his job for the team and they are winning, that's the main thing.
"Once he has been playing well over the course of the season, the goals are coming because he's probably been more relaxed.
"He has scored a lot since Christmas, probably because he's feeling stable in the team.
"Strikers and goalkeepers are the most pressurised positions because if strikers miss chances then everybody is on their back and if a goalkeeper makes a mistake then it's a goal for the opposition."