Jonny Howson - Coming of Age

What can you say about Jonny Howson. Leeds born and bread and the youngest captain since Billy Bremner. His rise from the youth academy to our indispensable skipper is unbelievable. He is now our longest serving player in the current squad and at the young age of 22, that is quite remarkable. He is a fan favourite at Elland Road and rarely disappoints on the pitch, through his consistency and hard work he has earned the acclaim he receives from the fans and his fellow professionals. The maturity he has shown on and of the field is credit to the attitude in which he approaches the game and the environment he has been brought up in. He has this raw aggression which is harnessed in a positive manner and the way he conducts himself on a football pitch is impressive.

In 181 appearances for the club he's struck 23 goals, none more memorable than his brace away to Carlise which blasted Leeds into the Play-off final, the youngster that night made all the headlines, not only his goals but his performance marked a bright future for midfielder. His disciplinary record is also impressive only collecting 15 bookings and just the solitary red card.

He seems like a true leader, the Leeds United vice-captain has taken to the captaincy in the absence of Richard Naylor  and he seems to hold all the attributes that a successful captain needs, within recent years his passion for the club and the game has shone threw, and the importance of his goals reflect the influence he has on the squad, he always seems to pop up and score those vital goals.

By all means Jonny Howson is a terrific player but he is not yet the finished product, he is still young. He's learning all the time and his love for the game will almost certainly drive him on to a very bright future. But will it be at Leeds? In the recent years Leeds have been branded as a feeder club with the likes of Leeds legend Alan Smith, Paul Robinson, James Milner, Aaron Lennon, Danny Rose and most recently Fabian Delph all sold on to 'bigger' clubs. So will Howson follow suit and jump ship or is the Leeds born boy turned captain here for good? Well you can't stop transfer speculation but under Simon Grayson he has made a strong statement by trying to avoid selling our best players. Jonny himself seems extremely committed to the club and doesn't seem like the character to abandon the team he grew up supporting.