Cooper: I've made the right move

Mar 2 2007 By Brian Halford, Birmingham Mail

KEVIN Cooper today revealed that Walsall's commitment to passing football was a big factor in his decision to join them on loan from Cardiff City.

Former Wolves winger Cooper impressed on his debut in the 4-1 win over Barnet last Saturday and the Saddlers hope for more of the same from the 32-year-old at Darlington tomorrow.

His loan spell, initially for a month, offers him the chance to put a staccato season behind him.

And when Cardiff manager Dave Jones suggested a loan deal, interest from the Saddlers hit the spot.

"It was important for me to come to the right club," Cooper said. "This season has been a bit stop-start. I had my right knee cleared out at the end of last season and have kept getting recurrences.

"But I have moved to the right club who do the right things. You see a lot of teams in this division that are full of six-foot-four players and their football is not very pretty. But Walsall certainly isn't one of them. I wouldn't be here if it was.

"We have not got a big team in terms of size but what we have got are decent, hard-working footballers and a manager who wants to do things the right way. That means hopefully I can get involved and play football the way I want to play too.

"I really enjoyed being out on the park again last Saturday.

"I am 100 per cent honest and I try to do the right things. I'm not always brilliant on a Saturday afternoon but you certainly get plenty of effort and commitment and I don't let people down."

Walsall hope the experienced Cooper's input on the left will trigger a run to take them back clear of the chasing pack.

Joy at Bescot will be unconfined if promotion is secured without recourse to the emotion-mincing play-offs. And in Cooper they might just have recruited a happy omen.

"I have been pretty fortunate with previous loan moves," he said.

"I went to Stockport at a similar stage of the season and got promoted. I went to Norwich on loan, again at a similar stage, and we got promoted as champions, so hopefully that will happen again."