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Get Real About Lita


Robbored

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It gets very frustrating to see comments about Lita's potential value and some wild estimates as to how much that is.

The real picture is that so far Lita has proved to be a one season wonder and no other club will come in with a unrefusable offer just yet."Super" Bob Taylor was just the same.One 30+ season was as good as it got for Taylor who never reached the same tally again at any of his subsequent clubs.

This is Lita's first proper league campaign and he's largely unknown to oppostion defenders who haven't had chance to work him out yet.He'll find it much harder next season unless he continues to improve his game.

Theres no guarantee that he will continue to improve.Maybe he's as good now as he'll ever be which is why other teams won't be taking a gamble on him yet.

If he can repeat this season's form next season as well,well thats a different matter.Then and only then would City be likely to get a generous offer for him.

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If our top notch coaches get to work on him, he can forget any ideas of playing at a higher standard!!!!

Despite the goals, Lita still makes many mistakes, but that is to be expected, given his age and experience. The one thing on his side, despite the views of many on this forum, is that he seems to me to have a good attitude to his football and so I would expect him to improve to the level required for higher level clubs to take a gamble on him.

He has got pace and he finds the back of the net so he already has two of the main requirements to succeed at a high level. If and when his control and awareness of others improves we won't be able to keep hold of him.

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What marks Leroy out is that despite not being the finished article yet, he continues to develop as a player - almost week by week. Yes, he makes mistakes, but he also does lots of good things and scores some real strikers goals: tap-ins, shots from outside the box, headers. You don't get picked for England when you're playing in this division if you haven't got something special about you. He's also developing an excellent partnership with Steve Brooker, and finally it looks as if we will have what we have been crying out for for years - two 20 goal a season strkers.

If he continuse to develop (and of course there are no guarantees) he is destined for a very bright future in the game, and if he finishes this season with 30 goals and we don't go up I suspect we'll struggle to keep him.

There's an interesting comparison to be made with Chris Roberts, who I always quite liked as a player, but who never changed in all the time he was here. The Roberts who went to Swindon was essentially the same player we signed from Exeter: brilliant on his day, but infuriatingly inconsistent. I never had any sense that he was learning the game, or had the potential to improve.

For Leroy though, with the right encouragement and a following wind, the sky's the limit. Good luck to him.

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Guest december 1963

Leroy Lita is improving very clearly and continuously. I am surprised if there is anyone who can't see that. He is a very important asset to us

And the point about Bob Taylor is very unfair. Most of his football was played ayt a level higher than ours after he was sold. In my view he shouldn't have been sold

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Did he ever score 30 goals in a season again?

I rest my case.

Sorry Robbored, but Bob did get 30 again in a season, during his time with the Baggies, their fans absolutely idolise him, even now.

I read all the "Dziekanowski was a hero" nonsense on here every so often and have a quiet laugh to myself.

Bob Taylor scored another 150+ league goals after we sold him and the bloke we replaced him with, who is seen as some sort of hero got 8.

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Robbored is right. No matter how good Leroy MIGHT be- at the moment I can not imagine many if any clubs being prepared to stump up the money we would want.

Rob Earnshaw scored 26 last season (in division above), 35 the season before that, 15 before that. Teams will look at players like Bobby Zamora who banged them in one season in this division when he was young, but was not good enough for the Prem. Other players such as Cureton and Harris have had one or more prolific seasons in this division.

Remember that players the quality of Matt Holland were sold for as little as £750,000 a year and a half ago.

Leroy COULD go on to become amazing, special, score loads of goals and be sold for millions...but at the moment he is not worth that much in the transfer market with so many other goal scoring strikers moving for £0.

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Robbored is right. No matter how good Leroy MIGHT be- at the moment I can not imagine many if any clubs being prepared to stump up the money we would want.

Rob Earnshaw scored 26 last season (in division above), 35 the season before that, 15 before that. Teams will look at players like Bobby Zamora who banged them in one season in this division when he was young, but was not good enough for the Prem. Other players such as Cureton and Harris have had one or more prolific seasons in this division.

Remember that players the quality of Matt Holland were sold for as little as £750,000 a year and a half ago.

Leroy COULD go on to become amazing, special, score loads of goals and be sold for millions...but at the moment he is not worth that much in the transfer market with so many other goal scoring strikers moving for £0.

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hes worth at least 2 million end of story !!

hes an england debutant goalscorer .... get it in your heads.....THEY don't GO CHEAPLY

so what? The lad has done well. There is no doubting that. But very few clubs can afford £2m to buy a player. Those that can are in the Premiership and they will not risk £2m on a player who has had one good season and scored one unmarked header for England. They can buy proven goalscorers for less than that or buy better talent cheaper abroad.

Every time a player scores a lot in this division people will rave about how great they are- as I said- Cureton, Harris, Thorpe, Zamora etc etc. But they have to prove they are not just a one season wonder to command the kind of sum you are talking about.

IF he breaks the 30 goal barrier this season AND scores regularly for the Under 21s then yes, clubs may risk big money on him...but not until then. Even then I think most clubs would want to see him repeat it all next season.

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Are you sure?

Can't see it in records..... :whistle:

Yep, around about 1993, Super Bob scored 30 goals for the Baggies in a season when they got promoted. Plus he went on to play in the Premiership for Bolton and the Baggies.

True Legend. Never did understand why Jimmy Lumsden decided to sell him.

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Lita will play at a higher level than this and score goals. That, in my view is a fact. He's already proved that to an extent by scoring for England under 21s.

I'm not quite sure where your arguement about him possibly being a 'one season wonder' comes from...this is his first full season of pro football! He can only get better and HE WILL GET BETTER.

It's a shame no other players at City have the desire to succeed and play at a higher level like Leroy does.

I will continue to laugh at people who don't rate him, and as someone who predicted he'd do the business for City from the moment I first saw him play I am justifiably delighted with his continuing progress for BCFC.

It'll be our loss when he leaves robbored, I can assure you that.

As for monetary value, clearly he isn't for sale but in todays climate I feel we'd be looking at between £800k-1million. Needless to say, a few years ago he'd have been snapped up by now for at least £1.5 mill...maybe a lot more than that.

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I suspect that there are two sides to all this.

Clubs trying to buy Lita will argue along Robboreds lines to try to knock the price down as low as possible.

We will point to his excellent record so far, his appearance in the under-21s use the 'potential' line to bump the price up higher.

Both are valid arguements.

With a bit of luck we'll be able to win the arguement. But our record at haggling has been pretty poor recently - the other clubs always seem to get the better deal whether we are buying or selling.

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In the current market I would suspect £600k - £1m might be about right. Equally, it would not be a surprise if any buyer said 'ok, you are so sure he will develop - here's a load of clauses where we will pay you more if you are proved right!"

This also I am afraid comes down to Leroy. Whilst we are in this division, it would be understandable if he wants to play at a higher level. It is very difficult ultimately I would guess to keep a player motivated, when an offer comes in from a team he fancies playing for. Yes he is under contract, but they are also only human.

I would suspect if West Ham say made an offer for him of £750k, with some clauses of future cash, and Leroy wanted to go, that might be it.

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I agree with what some people say about the changes in transfer money nowadays, however there are very few players who are available that have similar potential to Leroy.

I'm not saying that he will definitely make it at the highest level or that he'll play for England someday as that is still a long way off but at the same time it's not out of the question.

Leroy has the attribute that is most valuable in football and that is scoring goals. Every team needs someone who can and someone will always be after one.

Added to the fact that Leroy is only 20, it will mean that people should be willing to spend more for him, as they have more chance of either having him for a long time, or making money on him.

Having said all that, I hope that Leroy stays here and spends that time with us but I for one certainly don't think 7 figure sums are out of the question.

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The best comparison I can draw is with Jermaine Defoe. He and Lita are similar style strikers and Lita's strikerate this season must compare favourably with Defoe's sojourn at Bournemouth.

How this converts into monetry value I'm unsure, but I'm pretty confident that if Lita wants to go along the gradual progression route rather than trying to run before he can walk that he can go a very long way in this game.

Premiership one day? Why not?

England? Well who can say no for certain?

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Value in football is a matter of opinions. Someone said Steve Bruce was watching the other night, he may believe Leroys worth say 500k Tinman and SL may think he's worth a lot more, so the only way of finding out is to see how much people are prepared to pay and so far no ones offering. For the good of both the club and the player I hope no one does come in with a bid that way we keep an excellent young talent and he gets to learn his trade better. Goals are the standard by which a striker is measured and Leroys strike rate this season is wonderful but there is much more to playing at a higher level than hitting the net against Oldham etc. We also have another striker who is scoring on a regular basis (what price Steve Brooker?) and this must help Leroy at the moment especially as they are playing so well together,so another season of Lita/Brooker may well increase his value to those that count, top level managers.

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The best comparison I can draw is with Jermaine Defoe. He and Lita are similar style strikers and Lita's strikerate this season must compare favourably with Defoe's sojourn at Bournemouth.

Defoe has the ability to beat players for skill and by turning them when he has his back to goal. As I have said before, its this ability to create something for himself that he lacks at the moment.

I was disappointed he didn't get at least one more on Tuesday. He didn't show a real strikers "instinct" (actually awareness) on at least 3 occasions, he assumed defenders were going to clear the ball and didn't "gamble" on attacking the ball anyway. When the defenders missed the ball he was caught flat-footed.

One of these attributes can be coached into him, the other I am not sure of.

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Guest DAMIEN-LITA

I think Leroy is worth at least a million

SL will take no less than 1.5m but would want nearer 2m

Does not matter WHO is looking at him at the moment, He is staying at City so can we stop all the rumours etc and let him prove what he is capable of on the pitch for BRISTOL CITY

As for comparing him to other forwards, Leroy is his own person, He will prove all the negative muppets wrong and i am 100% sure he will make it to the premiership no problem !!!

Tuesdays game, No-one was more (I said a naughty word) off more than Leroy himself that he did not get a Hatrick! You all go on about it as if you were on the pitch, Try looking at the midfield ( Who were playing Square balls! ) If they send the ball forward Leroy will get on to it (He has the pace) and i,m also sure he would convert them balls into GOALS !

Even if he scored 5 goals every game you lot would find something to moan about

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It gets very frustrating to see comments about Lita's potential value and some wild estimates as to how much that is.

The real picture is that so far Lita has proved to be a one season wonder and no other club will come in with a unrefusable offer just yet."Super" Bob Taylor was just the same.One 30+ season was as good as it got for Taylor who never reached the same tally again at any of his subsequent clubs.

This is Lita's first proper league campaign and he's largely unknown to oppostion defenders who haven't had chance to work him out yet.He'll find it much harder next season unless he continues to improve his game.

Theres no guarantee that he will  continue to improve.Maybe he's as good now as he'll ever be which is why other teams won't be taking a gamble on him yet.

If he can repeat this season's form next season as well,well thats a different matter.Then and only then would City be likely to get a generous offer for him.

You say he isn't worth that much. But every player has his price.

So if you were chairman, what would you accept as an offer for him right now? Give an answer to that and we can see exactly how little you believe him to be worth.

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I think Leroy is worth at least a million

SL will take no less than 1.5m but would want nearer 2m

He may be worth a million if anyone will bid it, but it's hard to believe SL really has decided he'll not sell for less than 1.5m.

After rejecting good bids for Coles and Brown which were never repeated, cash strapped City will surely not make the same mistake next time we get a high offer.

We've got Heffernan as a ready made replacement, and how often in our history have City turned down a million pound offer? Especially as a 3rd division side.

I don't think it will go that high, 800k. plus add ons and he'll be gone.

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You say he isn't worth that much. But every player has his price.

So if you were chairman, what would you accept as an offer for him right now? Give an answer to that and we can see exactly how little you believe him to be worth.

In todays market and with Lita as yet unproven I'd consider an offer of around £300k - with sell on clauses of course just in case he does turn into a super star.

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Guest pentlandsl
hes worth at least 2 million end of story !!

hes an england debutant goalscorer .... get it in your heads.....THEY don't GO CHEAPLY

Calm down Benny. it doesn't matter how many exclamation marks you use or how many words you capitalise, just because others don't agree with you it doesn't mean they are wrong.

In MY opinion (don't forget you are still entitled to yours) I believe Leroy is something special. Not just his knack of banging in the goals but his game awareness as well, which has got better and better through the season. He regularly sees dangerous positions that our defenders miss and races to cover them. He defends well behind the opposition, closing down attacking options behind the play.

As a previous writer put it, unlike Mr Roberts, Leroy seems capable of and willing to work on his game to improve.

He is probably worth around £750k right now + sell-on clauses. However, if more than one club want him then the rpice may go up. If we wanted to cash in and there was only one club interested then the price may go down. Its called supply and demand.

Whatever his value, I hope he stays at the Gate for a while and we balance the books by getting promoted rather than selling players (although I suspect not this season).

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Thanks for that.

I'm sure whose the most advanced in terms of senility if you reckon he's worth £800k +

But footies all about opinions.

Leroy Lita £300k, Clayton Fortune £400k hmmmm I'm afraid I don't quite see your logic.

Thank god you're not chairman of Bristol City anyway, to sell our best player for £300k would be nothing short of madness.

:ph34r:

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Thank god you're not chairman of Bristol City anyway, to sell our best player for £300k would be nothing short of madness.

;)

I said I'd consider a bid of £300k not that I'd necessarily take it.

And why is Lita "our best player"?

So you think he's a better goalkeeper than Phillips, a better defender than Carey and better midfielder than Wilkshire.Hmmm.... :ph34r:

I think you win on the senility stakes.

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In todays market and with Lita as yet unproven I'd consider an offer of around £300k - with sell on clauses of course just in case he does turn into a super star.

Thank you for answering the question.

I would want more than that if I was in the position of having to make the decision. Anything over £650k with sell on and performance related clauses would be nearer his market value in my opinion.

The club has had its fingers burnt before turning down bids of that order for players we believed at the time would go on to better things. Having said that, I think Lita has a better attitude than previous players we've turned down big bids for so is more likely to fulfil his potential. But I don't think we could afford to turn it down. Especially as we already have a ready-made replacement on our books in Heffernan.

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Why don't you answer the question instead of mocking me.

Its the post you should attack, not the poster.

'Attack' is a bit of a strong word, but I'll admit I couldn't resist a bit of mocking.

Right, at 20 years of age Mr Lita has scored 18 league goals this season in 32 starts. He has also scored 5 goals in 5 games in cup competitions, taking him to a tally of 23 goals. If he keeps going at the rate he's going he may well get 30 goals in his second season of first team football.

As an England under 21 he is Bristol City's most valueable playing asset both in terms of our footballing success and financial value. Peter Taylor has done alright in his judgement of England youth players in recent years and it speaks volumes that he has deemed Lita good enough to play at England under 21 level.

One thing you may or may not have noticed about Leroy's play is that he improves game by game. It's all due to his winning attitude and love of the game you see. Deprived of resources in his native Congo of footballing resources he played footy bare footed on the dirty streets before escaping the war in Congo to further his footballing talent in England. He wants to play football at a higher level, something that you can't say about many of our players in recent memory.

Take Leroy Lita out of our side and who knows where we'd be this season? I hear the arguement for Heffernan and I do rate him. However, Lita makes goals for himself (often spectaculor) and I've yet to see Heff do that. I'm confident that Lita will go far in the game and am equally confident that if we recieved a bid of £500k for him, let alone £300k, it would be laughed off and rejected pronto.

Thank god we have him on a nice contract and at the moment he is happy to be at City.

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Right, at 20 years of age Mr Lita has scored 18 league goals this season in 32 starts. He has also scored 5 goals in 5 games in cup competitions, taking him to a tally of 23 goals. If he keeps going at the rate he's going he may well get 30 goals in his second season of first team football.

As an England under 21 he is Bristol City's most valueable playing asset both in terms of our footballing success and financial value. Peter Taylor has done alright in his judgement of England youth players in recent years and it speaks volumes that he has deemed Lita good enough to play at England under 21 level.

Take Leroy Lita out of our side and who knows where we'd be this season? I hear the arguement for Heffernan and I do rate him. However, Lita makes goals for himself (often spectaculor) and I've yet to see Heff do that. I'm confident that Lita will go far in the game and am equally confident that if we recieved a bid of £500k for him, let alone £300k, it would be laughed off and rejected pronto.

Thank god we have him on a nice contract and at the moment he is happy to be at City.

I'm aware of Lita's goalscoring record but you have forgotten to mention that he's gone 5 and I think 7 games back to back without scoring so far this season.He is a bit hot and cold or not consistant in other words.

He played for the U21's because of injuries and withdrawals from the squad and was by no means in the original full squad.He probably won't get selected for the next U21 squad if everyone else is fit.

Imo Heffernan would have scored just as many and possibly more goals than Lita if he had been first choice and started as many games.Heffernan is a natural,cool in front of goal and great at finding space.He would have scored less spectacular goals than Leroy but more tap-ins.What Heffernan lacks in power and pace is made up by that goal poaching ability and his experience.

So I don't think City would be anywhere else than where they are now if Lita had not been playing.

City are not a one man team as you seem to think.

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I'm aware of Lita's goalscoring record but you have forgotten to mention that he's gone 5 and I think 7 games back to back without scoring so far this season.He is a bit hot and cold or not consistant in other words.

He played for the U21's because of injuries and withdrawals from the squad and was by no means in the original full squad.He probably won't get selected for the next U21 squad if everyone else is fit.

Imo Heffernan would have scored just as many and possibly more goals than Lita if he had been first choice and started as many games.Heffernan is a natural,cool in front of goal and great at finding space.He would have scored less spectacular goals than Leroy but more tap-ins.What Heffernan lacks in power and pace is made up by that goal poaching ability and his experience.

So I don't think City would be anywhere else than where they are now if Lita had not been playing.

City are not a one man team as you seem to think.

I'm not saying we're a one man team though am I? I said Lita was our most important player, ask many City fans and they'd agree with that I'd imagine. Maybe only Wilkshire has made an equally significant contribution this season - when he's been picked.

I understand what the situation was with the under 21s, but when you're chances come along you take them - right? So I'm guessing that he had the chance to move up a league or two - he'd grasp that opportunity.

The first point you make about him not scoring in all of 5-7 games is ridiculous. All strikers go on runs like that at EVERY level no matter who you are...Henry, v Nistelrooy, Shearer, Owen I don't have to say anymore on that one...

And finally where would Heffernan have got all this service to score from then? Our service to the strikers this season has been abysmal. And experience? One full 'proper' season at Notts County hmmm...and how old is he?

:ph34r:

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Lita has done an exceptional job for us this season, with peaks and troughs. However, the real test is next season - isn't it the case that the second season is always more difficult? Case in point - John O'Shea at Man Utd - brilliant season last season, this season hardly got into the side. Point being that first half of this season, Lita was pretty much unknown, now finding it harder, but still scoring. Next season, more difficult. If he really is progressing week on week then he will deal with that and will go on to be a real star at a higher level. This season, brilliant for us but too early to say if he will make it!

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Thank you for answering the question.

I would want more than that if I was in the position of having to make the decision. Anything over £650k with sell on and performance related clauses would be nearer his market value in my opinion.

The club has had its fingers burnt before turning down bids of that order for players we believed at the time would go on to better things. Having said that, I think Lita has a better attitude than previous players we've turned down big bids for so is more likely to fulfil his potential. But I don't think we could afford to turn it down. Especially as we already have a ready-made replacement on our books in Heffernan.

£650k :ph34r: - The transfer market is on its A$$ & while this maybe a figure reachable through sell-ons & appearences etc, being realistic for any club to pay that sort of money on a 1st Div newcomer, would surprise me.

I tend to side with robbored on this one £300/£350k - especially as its its his first full season.

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£650k  :ph34r: - The transfer market is on its A$$ & while this maybe a figure reachable through sell-ons & appearences etc, being realistic for any club to pay that sort of money on a 1st Div newcomer, would surprise me.

I tend to side with robbored on this one £300/£350k - especially as its its his first full season.

The thing you have to ask yourself is which is more important to us, "£300k/£350k" or "Leroy Lita". At that price point, I'd sooner keep him as it doesn't make a big enough dent in out debts to justify the damage it does to our side whilst also not really giving us the funds to improve enough other areas.

If I were to sell Lita then I would want to bring in enough cash to improve at least 2 other areas of the side plus put a little away to appease the club accountants. I envisage that figure to be in the £500k-£750k range, although I'd sooner give him a one year extension and see what the situation is NEXT Summer.

I trust that should the board ever accept a bid of around that amount that we can expect a post from you congratulating them on the decision?

A final question for future reference, do you rate Miller more or less highly than Lita?

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The thing you have to ask yourself is which is more important to us, "£300k/£350k" or "Leroy Lita". At that price point, I'd sooner keep him as it doesn't make a big enough dent in out debts to justify the damage it does to our side whilst also not really giving us the funds to improve enough other areas.

If I were to sell Lita then I would want to bring in enough cash to improve at least 2 other areas of the side plus put a little away to appease the club accountants. I envisage that figure to be in the £500k-£750k range, although I'd sooner give him a one year extension and see what the situation is NEXT Summer.

I trust that should the board ever accept a bid of around that amount that we can expect a post from you congratulating them on the decision?

A final question for future reference, do you rate Miller more or less highly than Lita?

Without Lita's goals, we would have struggled big time (if were not already)

Tinnions biggest saviour has been the Lita/Brooker partnership.

I don't think the board have any intentions of letting him go & this is quite correct.

The biggest question is whether Lita himself wants to go onto bigger things.

If we get up this season, could be the difference between him staying or wanting to go.

He is now mixing with other players (England) that are showing him what life is like in the bigger leagues. And while he says nice things about how Tinnion has given him his chance, I am afraid that all ambitious footballers want to play at the highest level.Lita will want this & he may not get it staying where he is.

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Without Lita's goals, we would have struggled big time (if were not already)

Tinnions biggest saviour has been the Lita/Brooker partnership.

I don't think the board have any intentions of letting him go & this is quite correct.

The biggest question is whether Lita himself wants to go onto bigger things.

If we get up this season, could be the difference between him staying or wanting to go.

He is now mixing with other players (England) that are showing him what life is like in the bigger leagues. And while he says nice things about how Tinnion has given him his chance, I am afraid that all ambitious footballers want to play at the highest level.Lita will want this & he may not get it staying where he is.

Have you quoted the wrong post as your reply bears no resemblance to what I've said in my post :ph34r:

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