Liverpool FC Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2014 - Mod Note in OP, 1/09

Yeah Johnson was really terrible. Skrtel too. How they are getting away with it I do not know.

Watch Johnson first give the ball away in the lead up to the 2nd goal and then lose his man who scores. He's a calamity, calamity James if you will.

NukaCola

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Brendan Rodgers has just let it be known he is unhappy with "shirt-swapgate"

He said it last season when Sakho done it also.

Bowlardo

Madrid are class . no one in their right mind expect to get a result but certain thing need to be addressed. The back line is shocking, no leaders


I would get toure (organiser) and sakho in as soon as possible
Borini and sterling up front with lalalana
Gerard allen and hendo
get coutinho on for the last 30 minutes


Flanagan can't come back soon enough.


Ballotellii can feck off. bad for team spirit.

Harry Palmr

darced wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Those two delivered, they were duper efficient postman. Two rounds a day. Balo misses the house unless he has bills in his hand.

Turtyturd

NukaCola wrote: »

Hardly a disease though

No it's not. And like I said I wouldn't put the blame squarely on Balotelli, Sterling's complaining at teammates has increased a lot in the last few months.

darced

This post has been deleted.

Ardent

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Brendan Rodgers has just let it be known he is unhappy with "shirt-swapgate"

He also said of Balo's substitution: "I felt we needed a bit more intensity".

Says it all really. As Morzadec pointed out, it sometimes feels like we're playing with 10 men.

Nerdlingr

darced wrote: »

Suarez and Sturridge were constantly at each other last year on the pitch and Sterling always seems to be mouthing to someone but once its Mario its destroying morale and spreading disease everywhere.

Suarez and sturridge were a partnership. You'll get disagreements from time to time, nothings serious. But everyone was pulling in the right direction. Has balotelli ever played in a partnership, ever connected with another striker? His assist stats are shocking. It really is all about him.

noodler

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Those two delivered, they were duper efficient postman. Two rounds a day. Balo misses the house unless he has bills in his hand.

They also had infectious effort.

They didn't blame others for their own mistakes. Suarez would give out for someone not squaring it alright.

Not the same thing as blaming a 19 year carrying the team's attack on his shoulders for your own mistakes.

Osmosis Jones

Bar Johnson, defensive personnel isn't the issue. Before coming to Liverpool, Lovren was one of the best defenders in the league and Sakho was great for PSG and even only conceded 1 goal playing for France in the World Cup.

Gbear

Morzadec wrote: »

Balo had a couple of good moments but overall it often feels like playing with 10 on the pitch.

This just feels like such a lazy argument based on not liking Balotelli in the first place.

I'd say there were probably 5 or 6 players more at fault for the result tonight - Johnson was mostly ****e, Skrtel looked ropey again, Mignolet flapped at a cross again and seems to every week, Henderson looked totally outclassed and out of his depth, Gerrard had a few nice touches in the first 20 but it was mostly aimless after that.

Balotelli seems to be singled out far too much when we're a team that's not performing. He seems to be bearing the brunt of the vitriol when really, the only players who get any credit at all this season (vs just getting a pass for being youngsters like Moreno, Markovic and Manquillo) are Sterling and possibly Lallana.

It seems that nearly everyone - the media, the fans and Rodgers are using him as a convenient scapegoat. Because it generates content for the media, it gives Rodgers an excuse and fans need an easy answer to why a team that was 2nd is now ****e.

klose

Im flabbergasted Johnson has strolled back into the team whilst manquillo was playing well, i mean he's technically still an atleti player and a former real player id wager he'd have busted his balls out there tonight. Johnson cant fcuk off quick enough tbh, hes your "disease" in the team, half arsed strolling about and just wetting his lips at the thought of the massive signing on fee he will get when he leaves.

garra

Augmerson wrote: »

No, before the goals, and even after, Liverpool had some good play. It was when they stopped the pressure and closing down that they conceded. Did you watch the match?

Did you keep the rose tinted glasses on for the full match yourself?

Yes unfortunately I watched every minute of it. We had about 3 or 4 decent shooting opportunities from outside the box and some neat passing in midfield at times. They controlled the tempo and exploited our weaknesses while we muddled about in the final third. Their keeper's shorts were clean at the final whistle, inside and out.

NukaCola

BR is unable to set us up defensively. We bought an almost brand new defence in the summer and we are no better off. Lovren was going to be the organiser we needed. He has been the stand out worst performer in the defence. We have decent defenders that should not be conceding awful goals consistently. These players have defended well at different clubs, under different managers and at international level. They dont just turn ****e. Time for BR to let someone help with the defence. Is Steve Clarke still out of work?

People can cry about Mario all day but our defence is the number one problem we have.

We need to see balotelli play games with sturridge or at least another striker before judging him imo. He's no doubt not anywhere near his best upfront on his own.

8-10

Far far far too much talk about Balotelli on here - Mignolet is not getting the criticism that his display deserves. He's not the same character as Mario but we're not tabloid newspapers. Balotelli wasn't great but wasn't the worst. We certainly didn't lose the first half 3-0 because of him. Focus should be on where the game was lost - Mignolet not good enough, Allen not good enough....I have a whole post to write but have to leave right now but you get the jist

klose

Osmosis Jones wrote: »

Bar Johnson, defensive personnel isn't the issue. Before coming to Liverpool, Lovren was one of the best defenders in the league and Sakho was great for PSG and even only conceded 1 goal playing for France in the World Cup.

Its systems, lovren had two big dms in front of him in schneiderlan and wanyama last season doing the dirty work for him and now he has gerrard playing a quarter back role in front of him and hendo and allen sometimes weighing in with a hand, chalk and cheese.
Sakho was partnered with probably the best young centre back around in varane and with a very good keeper who's also a leader in loris, also had the likes pf matuidi and pogba in midfield in front of him. Our system is unfair on centre backs ill give it that but it doesn't excuse the collective ****ting of pants when a high ball is played in

noodler

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Those two delivered, they were duper efficient postman. Two rounds a day. Balo misses the house unless he has bills in his hand.

They also had infectious effort.

They didn't blame others for their own mistakes. Suarez would give out for someone not squaring it alright.

Not the same thing as blaming a 19 year carrying the team's attack on his shoulders for your own mistakes.

Dont be at yourself

Agree with that. Shirt-swapping aside, don't see any issue with Balotelli tonight.

Mignolet though has no confidence, no authority and no nerve. He has fantastic reactions and agility, but as soon as he has to engage the bit between the ears, he ****s the bed. He hesitates, gets caught in two minds, and that spreads panic amongst the back four.

Don't get me wrong, none of tr back four have convinced, but you could put Maldini and Baresi in front of Mignolet and they'd still concede.

We need somebody like Neuer, who is vocal and willing to go through his own centre back to get to a ball. Valdes isn't going to shout and ball, but at least he's aggressive in attacking the ball.

Tipsy McSwagger

Worst performer this season has been the manager.

Augmerson

garra wrote: »

Did you keep the rose tinted glasses on for the full match yourself?

Yes unfortunately I watched every minute of it. We had about 3 or 4 decent shooting opportunities from outside the box and some neat passing in midfield at times. They controlled the tempo and exploited our weaknesses while we muddled about in the final third. Their keeper's shorts were clean at the final whistle, inside and out.

You watched the whole match and your opinion is all we had was some neat passing and some chances to score? I might be wearing rose tinted glasses but you'll need to get the dust cleaned off yours if you didn't notice the closing down and pressuring. There was a real desire to get the ball back and fast and it reminded me a lot of last season.

If we had of been able to continue that for the whole match and been concentrating better at the back we would have at least a point on our hands tonight.

mosstin

klose wrote: »

Its systems, lovren had two big dms in front of him in schneiderlan and wanyama last season doing the dirty work for him and now he has gerrard playing a quarter back role in front of him and hendo and allen sometimes weighing in with a hand, chalk and cheese.
Sakho was partnered with probably the best young centre back around in varane and with a very good keeper who's also a leader in loris, also had the likes pf matuidi and pogba in midfield in front of him. Our system is unfair on centre backs ill give it that but it doesn't excuse the collective ****ting of pants when a high ball is played in

Sorry but the whole 'they're not receiving sufficient protection' argument is starting to grate. Madrid's 2nd and 3rd goals tonight both came from relatively straighforward balls into the box, both of which should have been cleared. For their 2nd there were two men strolling in at the back post waiting to head the ball. All the CBs fault? No. Up to doing the dirty work? No, not at this moment.

Demosthenese

Thought ironically we had our best 17 mins for some time regarding intensity and pressing. We looked up for it. Can't really blame anyone for the first goal, sure we can point fingers but it was a classy goal that probably 1-2 players could only score. They steamrolled us for 20 mins and other than the 3rd goal which i am seriously getting sick of us conceding that type - we performed exactly as i expected.

Lets have a reality check here ... Kroos/James/Modric/Isco are just classy players and with Ronaldo and Benzema the gulf in class is just too much for a team like us.

Negatives are of course we love a good scapegoat and Mario is perfect foil. Mario this and that ... so ****ing what if he swapped a jersey on the way to the dressingroom it doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. The 2nd and 3rd goals were poor defending and it frustrates so much that we concede goals of a headed nature game after game, time after time and never really seem to dominate aeriel attacks for as long as i can remember.

Positives ... for 20 mins we looked like we found our intensity and mojo ... Coutinho looked lively and combined with his cameo the weekend i hope he can build on that. When not playing a team like Real who admittedly played their best of the season ... we will be ok

If we play like that for the opening 20 mins of the league games, instead of the drivel of QPR last week we will be ok lads. Just ran into a steam train tonight.

MR NINE

We are so fortunate to be in such a good position this season. Tied fourth in the league ahead of all our rivals, tied second in our cl group and still in the league cup with a home tie to come. Thats a reasonable situation to be in in late october. When you consider how bad weve been all season, its an incredible position to be in.

mosstin

Augmerson wrote: »

You watched the whole match and your opinion is all we had was some neat passing and some chances to score? I might be wearing rose tinted glasses but you'll need to get the dust cleaned off yours if you didn't notice the closing down and pressuring. There was a real desire to get the ball back and fast and it reminded me a lot of last season.

If we had of been able to continue that for the whole match and been concentrating better at the back we would have at least a point on our hands tonight.

Jesus. Seriously? You genuinely think we could have takes a point from tonight based on our performance? I can't fathom anyone thinking that. Intensity? This team is as far away from replicating last season's form as the last Liverpool XI selected by Riy Hodgson.
It's this belief that things are coming together that baffles me. I don't think we laid a glove on a Madrid team that actually, defensively at least, looked like they could have been exposed.

noodler

Ballotelli did a little bit more tonight than usual. Still well below an acceptable performance.

He also did okay against spurs.

Apart from that he has been unequivocally woeful. And that is in ignoring his other issues regarding lack of effort, I'll discipline, shouting at continue, sterling and Enrique, the shirt swapping stupidity etc.

When people criticise him based on performances alone, they are entirely correct to do so - Sturridge or no.

Augmerson

mosstin wrote: »

Jesus. Seriously? You genuinely think we could have takes a point from tonight based on our performance? I can't fathom anyone thinking that. Intensity? This team is as far away from replicating last season's form as the last Liverpool XI selected by Riy Hodgson.
It's this belief that things are coming together that baffles me. I don't think we laid a glove on a Madrid team that actually, defensively at least, looked like they could have been exposed.

Yes, if we had of kept up the closing down, the pressuring, and not made the ****ty mistakes at the back, we could have gotten a point. That is not an entirely unreal prospect. It was when this was stopped that Real began to come on and from then on we were ****ed.

I was happy with aspects of our game tonight. And I was also unhappy with other aspects and some individual performances. We still have a way to go.

We are not as bad as when Hodgson managed the club, I really do not see the comparison Moss.

klose

mosstin wrote: »

Sorry but the whole 'they're not receiving sufficient protection' argument is starting to grate. Madrid's 2nd and 3rd goals tonight both came from relatively straighforward balls into the box, both of which should have been cleared. For their 2nd there were two men strolling in at the back post waiting to head the ball. All the CBs fault? No. Up to doing the dirty work? No, not at this moment.

The 2nd and 3rd goals were as a result of high balls/set plays in which i alluded to earlier when i said theres still no excuse for us defending them so badly so i agree with you in any case.

Morzadec

Gbear wrote: »

This just feels like such a lazy argument based on not liking Balotelli in the first place.

I'd say there were probably 5 or 6 players more at fault for the result tonight - Johnson was mostly ****e, Skrtel looked ropey again, Mignolet flapped at a cross again and seems to every week, Henderson looked totally outclassed and out of his depth, Gerrard had a few nice touches in the first 20 but it was mostly aimless after that.

Balotelli seems to be singled out far too much when we're a team that's not performing. He seems to be bearing the brunt of the vitriol when really, the only players who get any credit at all this season (vs just getting a pass for being youngsters like Moreno, Markovic and Manquillo) are Sterling and possibly Lallana.

It seems that nearly everyone - the media, the fans and Rodgers are using him as a convenient scapegoat. Because it generates content for the media, it gives Rodgers an excuse and fans need an easy answer to why a team that was 2nd is now ****e.

I did like Bslo at first. I was relatively excited with the signing. It was a biv name and i thought he'd add a bit of magic.

Im inly going on what I've seen so far.

klose

MR NINE wrote: »

We are so fortunate to be in such a good position this season. Tied fourth in the league ahead of all our rivals, tied second in our cl group and still in the league cup with a home tie to come. Thats a reasonable situation to be in in late october. When you consider how bad weve been all season, its an incredible position to be in.

All well and great i agree with you but the main problem is the lack of improvements being made, i know sturridge back would help but its still looking pretty bleak at the moment.

noodler

We need another goalkeeper in January. Another defensive midfielder. Another striker.

I do not even know of where to begin with the defence.

Like everyone else, I work Sterling is going to get mighty sick of trying to carry us forward on his own. He isn't Suarez.

I was of the opinion that we couldn't get any worse and that Rodgers and co having more time with the players would improve us. I am not as sure about this now. The bigger factor seems to be Sturridge and we need a proper plan B when he is out who can also contribute when he is not.

klose

noodler wrote: »

We need another goalkeeper in January. Another defensive midfielder. Another striker.

I do not even know of where to begin with the defence.

Like everyone else, I work Sterling is going to get mighty sick of trying to carry us forward on his own. He isn't Suarez.

I was of the opinion that we couldn't get any worse and that Rodgers and co having more time with the players would improve us. I am not as sure about this now. The bigger factor seems to be Sturridge and we need a proper plan B when he is out who can also contribute when he is not.

Id imagine henry would tell rodgers to gtfo if he asked for multiple signings again in jan.

MR NINE

The thing with balotelli is he is no replacement for suarez. Im not just talking in terms of quality, we all know there is virtually no replacing suarezs quality. Im talking about style of play and attitude. I dont buy into all the hype about balotelli being a cancer who doesnt care about anyone but himself etc but hes a lazy player, and he thinks hes better than he is. Suarez never stopped running, he played like he was a mediocre player who had to do his very best to earn and retain a place in the team. Balotelli is the opposite to this.

Even ignoring effort, balotellis style of play isnt based around constant movement and intelligent runs and harrying defenders. We had suarez and sturridge doing that last season and it worked to great effect. They never gave opposition defenders a moments rest, and forced many a mistake. As soon as we regained possession theyd be off, busting a gut to get beyond the defence to be played in on goal.

I cant understand why rodgers hasnt targetted a striker with similar attributes. Why has he suddenly decided we need someone like lambert, balotelli, or bony, higuain who were both linked excessively throughout the summer. Very good strikers, but just not suited to the style of play that was so successful last season. In the pre match analysis tonight they showed a clip of sterling against spurs when he made that outrageous run past four defenders in the spurs penalty area and then scuffed his shot. Within that five second clip, sturridge made three or four different runs. He was so energetic and lively. It was obviously brilliant from sterling, but it was helped by sturridge occupying defenders. we have desperately lacked that sort of play this season. Sturridge and suarez are obviously quality strikers, but in that instance against spurs it didnt matter that sturridge was a good player, he never even got the ball, he was just lively, alert, effective.

I harp on about borini a lot, but hes the one forward at the club that can provide this movement and work rate whilst sturridge is out and he cant even make the squad. And yet balotelli and lambert are involved every week, and every week we look blunt and lifeless up front. We need pace, we need movement, and we need energy. Balotelli doesnt give us these things.

Rodgers won't be looking for a defensive midfielder in Jan, or beyond I think. A back up keeper is likely and I can see borini leaving after realising he won't be getting a look in, someone coming in up front.

Rodgers could well get this squad to finish top 4 and last 16 of the CL isn't at all unlikely. Plenty of magic to be mustered by Sturridge if he's getting games.

daRobot

Unfortunately, Rodgers seems to think that he can mold players into something they're not.

As Mr Nine pointed out so well above, Balotelli is not, nor never will be, that type of dynamic player we need. Remy could have done that job far better, imo.

The same thing happened with Nuri Sahin, being continually played as a 10, when he's a deep lying playmaker.

You can't put a square peg in a round hole, and Rodgers should have the foresight not to even attempt such futile tasks, when it upsets the balance of the team so much.

Depressing that this is where we are after spending the Suarez money.

Charlie19

martyos121 wrote: »

Just saw the footage of Balotelli swapping shirts at half-time.
He is an utter waste of space and if Voronin and Aspas had a son together, I would sooner play him up front.

While I dont agree with the shirt swapping, he was probably caught of guard by Pepe(who I cant stand). He actually played ok tonight and made a few decent runs, that was after losing the ball twice early on which lead me to mute Ronnie Whelan.
The aspas Voronin line did me make me laugh though.

klose wrote: »

Id imagine henry would tell rodgers to gtfo if he asked for multiple signings again in jan.

I remember Rodgers saying a couple of times after the last window that It was going to be a huge window for us regarding signings, which would lead me to believe that there wouldn't be much funding available in the future.

brevity

Regarding Mario shirt swap more things to worry about regarding him. He was asked to swap not the other way round which is a big difference.

Check out @Carra23's Tweet: https://twitter.com/Carra23/status/525052673801060352?s=09

MR NINE

klose wrote: »

All well and great i agree with you but the main problem is the lack of improvements being made, i know sturridge back would help but its still looking pretty bleak at the moment.

I agree, improvement needs to happen soon or else we wont be in such a good position. I can see signs of improvement in midfield and attack. Lallana is a bright player and has settled in well, coutinho seems to have overcome his abysmal early season form. Can and allen being fit gives us more options in central midfield. Our defence is the major issue, and that includes gerrard and mig. I for one havent got a clue how to solve it, but i would like to see sakho back asap as at least he can head a ball. Our other major issue is that rodgers three attacking signings (lambert, markovic and balotelli) all look as bad as each other and one of them is gonna have to start making a positive impact soon, especially if sturridges injury woes are gonna continue.

J Mysterio

~Rebel~ wrote: »

Seriously, does any grown up give even the tiniest fuck about this kind of rubbish? A dude asked him to swap, he did. No laughing or joking or giving the finger to fans. He took off the shirt and gave it to a guy who asked for it, 3 minutes before he'd have taken it off and thrown it into a laundry bin in the dressing room.

Can we actually look at this like, do people think the other Real players are all rallied by this? "We have one of their shirts - victory!" Do we think the other pool players think: "Oh no - one of our shirts is gone, we're done for!"

I doubt anyone actually involved in the game gives a toss.

I have a massive problem with it and I think others do, or should. You shouldn't be pally with the opposition anyway but particularly after they've just handed your ass to you.

I think about Roy Keane saying 'It amazes me to see players talking to the opposition in the tunnel - we're going to war' (paraphrased).

I believe that Rodgers subbed Balotelli at half time for the shirt swap. I can see no other reason for subbing him. He was probably Liverpool's best player in the first half.

I was actually raging when I saw he was substituted. I thought Rodgers had thrown him under the bus i.e. was subbing him to blame him in someway for the performance (scapegoating). It only made sense when I saw the shirt swapping.

Still probably poor man management from Rodgers as Balotelli will totally shut down now.

UnitedIrishman

As an outsider looking in, I think Rodgers obviously thought Balotelli was going to be something which he's not. He thought he would have the class to link up with the rest of the team around him but he looks completely out of place. He hasn't been that type of player since he was at Inter IMO.

You can say your defence isn't playing well, which it isn't, or that Rodgers isn't setting the team up right but there is nothing more infectious and demoralising for side to see than another player not willing to work for the side and undoing all the work you've done to get into attacking positions. I wouldn't have him anywhere near my side and only for they spent so much on him if I was a manager I'd get rid ASAP.

He'll probably score a world class goal against Hull next weekend but when push comes to shove, it's all about Mario. And that's not the way ye played last year.

garra

Augmerson wrote: »

You watched the whole match and your opinion is all we had was some neat passing and some chances to score? I might be wearing rose tinted glasses but you'll need to get the dust cleaned off yours if you didn't notice the closing down and pressuring. There was a real desire to get the ball back and fast and it reminded me a lot of last season.

If we had of been able to continue that for the whole match and been concentrating better at the back we would have at least a point on our hands tonight.

Ooh you got me there, I forgot to mention the closing down and pressuring for periods in the first half and when Real were 3 nil up in the second half.

QPR did a good job of closing down and pressuring last weekend. Does it mean they can get away with a toothless attack, numb-nuts defending, lack of game management/control or poor delivery from set pieces? Not really.

passremarkable

The sooner we replace mignolet the better
He is a terrible keeper
Flappy

LuckyLloyd

Tipsy McSwagger wrote: »

Worst performer this season has been the manager.

Yep.

I'm baffled what I'm reading in here tonight. Mario swapped a shirt? So ****ing what. We pressed a little bit? **** off, who cares. Real are a great team? Maybe, but Anfield on European nights has always been where great teams go to die.

We've been rubbish all season. That's the reality, like it or lump it. Our defending is atrocious and the coach is either unwilling or unable to address it. We are on course to be eliminated from the group stages of the Champions League after getting Basle and Ludograts in the draw, as good as it gets at this level essentially.

We were awful tonight. No pride, no fight. Never a contest. I'm so bitterly disappointed. I expected us to make a game of it, instead we rolled over and allowed ourselves to be tickled. Some of you misunderstand what this is supposed to be about:



Currently in fourth? We won't be at the end of the season unless there is a drastic shake up.

MD1990

Mignolet was shocking for the 3rd goal. He has a major flaw as he suffered a bad facial injury a few years & has no bravery or courage to go for balls where he might be in a collision.

klose

Gerrard was having a laugh and a joke with ronaldo when we were one down iirc, no out cry over that though. Balo is the easiest of targets.

Liam McPoyle

IMO as each game goes by, BR is getting shown up more and more.

He was incredibly fortunate last year that Suarez peaked and Sturridge was fantastic too.

The sexy football going forward deflected attention from the dodginess at the back.

The Palace game being where the league was lost, 3 nil up with 10 or 15 minutes remaining, it should have been about holding steady.

His ineptness in the transfer market and his insistence this season of playing players that are past it or worthless will be his undoing.

Charlie19

The thread really is spit on Mario.

While I dont like him being at Liverpool, I think he done well tonight and I'm still foolishly hoping he'll come good when Sturridge becomes available.

I've read a lot a posts about how we were undone by great first goal and I dont think anyone has laid blame at Loveren. If Loveren hadn't tried the overhead, I think he could of continued his run and just shielded or headed the ball out to safety.

billymitchell

Ah lads, we all expected to get beat tonight, why the fcuking meltdown when we did? We were beat by probably the best europe, its about right the result. Roll on the weekend, back to our current level

ben.schlomo

Charlie19 wrote: »

The thread really is spit on Mario.

While I dont like him being at Liverpool, I think he done well tonight and I'm still foolishly hoping he'll come good when Sturridge becomes available.

I've read a lot a posts about how we were undone by great first goal and I dont think anyone has laid blame at Loveren. If Loveren hadn't tried the overhead, I think he could of continued his run and just shielded or headed the ball out to safety.

Dont think anyone went that far!!

K-9

Morzadec wrote: »

Balo had a couple of good moments but overall it often feels like playing with 10 on the pitch.

He is a luxury player and his moments of quality are too infrequent but ultimately (and more importantly) too ineffectual to justify his place in the team.

It looks like his mind is elsewhere at times. Look at our first goal against QPR. His lack of concentration and presence in the game is criminal. Defenders get slated for these slips. Strikers should be held just as accountable. Why is Balotelli not scoring goals? You can start here. If he was fully involved in the moment he would have scored a few by now just by being in the right place.

Not sure if I'm explaining this well but there is no "flow" about him at the moment. He's going through the motions.

I would start anyone over him at the moment. We are playing with 10 at times

Apparently he was a big name signing that meant we were serious.

Unless he clicks with Sturridge he'll be gone come January