Telegraph 12/12/10
Championship round-up: Leeds United captain Jonathan Howson seals fightback to defeat Burnley at Turf Moor
Burnley 2 Leeds United 3
The great Leeds revival continued at Turf Moor where Jonathan Howson, nominated for England recognition, emerged captain courageous with a
winning goal five minutes from the end that took his side to fourth place on the strength of an eight-match unbeaten run.
Yet neither player nor club are getting carried away as a path towards a second successive promotion has opened.
“It’s nice to hear comments like that, but I am not getting ahead of myself and we are not as a team either,” said Leeds-born Howson, who at 21 is one of the club’s youngest captains.
His name had been put forward as an England possible by Andy O’Brien, the central defender on loan from Bolton, who was ruled out by injury from the stunning fightback at Burnley where Leeds overcame a two-goal interval deficit to emerge the only Championship top-six weekend winners.
Both Howson and manager Simon Grayson, approaching his second anniversary in charge, are adamant that feet will be kept firmly on the ground.
“All we’ve done is stretch the unbeaten run to eight games,” Grayson said after the 3-2 win. And Howson recalled: “We were flying as we approached Christmas last season, but then we tailed off for a bit before eventually clinching second place. However, we have a lot of belief in ourselves and that includes people who come off the bench to play their part.
“Being captain gives me a massive lift and a special feeling because I am Leeds born and bred. I used to watch them as a lad when Lucas Radebe was captain and I recently had the pleasure of meeting him.
“We are now fourth and that is a result of hard work. We worked our socks off against Burnley and know it is going to be difficult to keep this run going. Our next game is against Queens Park Rangers and that is a massive one because they will want to bounce back after what Watford did to them.”
Burnley, too, will require immediate redemption at second-placed Cardiff after tamely surrendering a comfortable advantage gained thanks to first-half goals from Brian Easton, his first for the club, and promising young striker Jay Rodriguez.
It left manager Brian Laws accusing his team of complacency as Max Gradel and Luciano Becchio achieved parity before Howson confirmed deserved victory.
Easton admitted: “It has happened so many times before and is something we need to quickly sort out.”
Leeds are two points behind Cardiff, who failed to capitalise on leaders QPR’s first defeat of the season in losing 1-0 at Middlesbrough. Julio Arca’s penalty earned Boro their first win in five league games and lifted them out of the relegation zone.
After Cardiff’s fourth league game without victory manager Dave Jones said: “I don’t know how often we are going to leave the door open at the back. A bit of fear has crept in there somehow. At the moment that unit isn’t working.” Norwich finished with 10 men, having Leon Barnett sent off for a second booking after giving away a stoppage-time penalty, and dropped to sixth place after a 2-0 home defeat by Portsmouth.
Championship round-up: Leeds United captain Jonathan Howson seals fightback to defeat Burnley at Turf Moor
Burnley 2 Leeds United 3
The great Leeds revival continued at Turf Moor where Jonathan Howson, nominated for England recognition, emerged captain courageous with a
winning goal five minutes from the end that took his side to fourth place on the strength of an eight-match unbeaten run.Yet neither player nor club are getting carried away as a path towards a second successive promotion has opened.
“It’s nice to hear comments like that, but I am not getting ahead of myself and we are not as a team either,” said Leeds-born Howson, who at 21 is one of the club’s youngest captains.
His name had been put forward as an England possible by Andy O’Brien, the central defender on loan from Bolton, who was ruled out by injury from the stunning fightback at Burnley where Leeds overcame a two-goal interval deficit to emerge the only Championship top-six weekend winners.
Both Howson and manager Simon Grayson, approaching his second anniversary in charge, are adamant that feet will be kept firmly on the ground.
“All we’ve done is stretch the unbeaten run to eight games,” Grayson said after the 3-2 win. And Howson recalled: “We were flying as we approached Christmas last season, but then we tailed off for a bit before eventually clinching second place. However, we have a lot of belief in ourselves and that includes people who come off the bench to play their part.
“Being captain gives me a massive lift and a special feeling because I am Leeds born and bred. I used to watch them as a lad when Lucas Radebe was captain and I recently had the pleasure of meeting him.
“We are now fourth and that is a result of hard work. We worked our socks off against Burnley and know it is going to be difficult to keep this run going. Our next game is against Queens Park Rangers and that is a massive one because they will want to bounce back after what Watford did to them.”
Burnley, too, will require immediate redemption at second-placed Cardiff after tamely surrendering a comfortable advantage gained thanks to first-half goals from Brian Easton, his first for the club, and promising young striker Jay Rodriguez.
It left manager Brian Laws accusing his team of complacency as Max Gradel and Luciano Becchio achieved parity before Howson confirmed deserved victory.
Easton admitted: “It has happened so many times before and is something we need to quickly sort out.”
Leeds are two points behind Cardiff, who failed to capitalise on leaders QPR’s first defeat of the season in losing 1-0 at Middlesbrough. Julio Arca’s penalty earned Boro their first win in five league games and lifted them out of the relegation zone.
After Cardiff’s fourth league game without victory manager Dave Jones said: “I don’t know how often we are going to leave the door open at the back. A bit of fear has crept in there somehow. At the moment that unit isn’t working.” Norwich finished with 10 men, having Leon Barnett sent off for a second booking after giving away a stoppage-time penalty, and dropped to sixth place after a 2-0 home defeat by Portsmouth.