Benny Coulter- Best in the Country

As an extremely biased Down man I watched the game against Donegal in awe of the performance Benny Coulter put in. He dragged Down by the scruff of the neck and pulled them through that championship quarter final with an awesome display. This got me thinking, is Benny Coulter as good as there is in the country? If Benny was born into the stolk in Kerry, Armagh, Tyrone etc would he be as famous and renouned as the likes of gooch? For my money he is, but it's interesting to see what people think.

There's nothing wrong with a little bias Hogan2010!

There's no doubting that Benny Coulter is a brilliant footballer and the shift he put in against Donegal was excellent and fully deserving of Man of the Match. He almost singlehandedly kept Down in the match and there is no arguing that without him they wouldn't have won!

Not quite the best in the land for me though, not yet anyhow. He has yet to win major honours on the pitch with Down and this is what goes against him in my book (as with Paddy Bradley et al). Now if drags Down to an Ulster title (who are my tip for it by the way) then there will be a case to answer and until then he can't be considered as the best. One thing for sure is, he's not far away and i think he's a very talented player. I'd rather have him playing alongside me than against me everytime, which is more than i can say for Bradley!

He has been knocking around a long time now and has always been a good footballer. Maybe Marty is bringing the best out of him. But there would have to be a question over his consistency - maybe he hasn't been on the best Down teams ever but don't think he can be viewed as a 'great' ....

He won the game for Down on his own yesterday, and looked as good as he has done in years. I don't think he is quite the player he was 6-7 years ago, as injuries seem to have taken a yard of pace from him, but still a fabulous footballer.

Seems to have had better luck with injuries this year, and looks in good shape. For me, he has always been one of my favourite footballers, and one of the very few who can conjure something out of nothing for his side.

If he had been born 15 years earlier and played alongside Blaney and the rest, he would be a acknowledged as a great. As it is, he looks unlikely ever to get to play on the biggest stage, unless Down make drastic progress over the next couple of years.

Benny was always a great and does not need baubles to prove it. His fielding ability is great, apart from finishing and vision.

Wonderful player, harmed by injury as TC pointed out.

Remember the point he got from the corner in the first round last year and him barely able to walk. Class act.

Yesterday seen him at his best in many's the day. A roving corner back, high fielding midfielder, sublime scores but most of all tremendous leadership at the vital moments....

Lessons for some others out there to learn...