Sounnes reveals what permanently damaged Mourinho and Terry’s relationship

Graeme Souness believes that Jose Mourinho’s decision to substitute John Terry against Manchester City at the start of the season led to a permanent dent in their relationship and was the start of the manager’s descent at Chelsea.

Chelsea headed to the Etihad Stadium for their second game of the Premier League season but were struggling to contain City in the first half, with Sergio Aguero netting while also coming close with other efforts.

With the Blues 1-0 down at half-time Mourinho made the move to take off Terry, replacing his captain with Kurt Zouma. Chelsea eventually lost the match 3-0 after being completely dominant.

It was a substitution that led to intense questioning of Terry’s future at the club and Mourinho’s decision making. The Portuguese coach was eventually sacked in December after nine losses in their opening 16 league matches.

And Souness believes that Terry’s removal from that contest became a permanent black mark on the defender’s relationship with his manager, and was something that affected the 35-year-old.

And the former Liverpool man feels that it was this move that was the catalyst for Mourinho’s downfall at Stamford Bridge.

Speaking to Sky Sports’ Premier League season review Souness said on Mourinho’s Chelsea career: “It started to go down a road that was a very difficult road to back out of. He started to criticise his own players and I think the writing was on the wall then. In the modern game that is something you just cannot do.

“A big thing for me was when he took John Terry off against Manchester City. We were at the game and I don’t think Terry was worse than any other defender. You’re taking him off to make a point. I think that’s a dangerous road to go down.

“John Terry was thoroughly professional afterwards but that would have hurt him badly and I’m sure that relationship would have been damaged forever.”

Terry’s future at Chelsea is still up in the air. Despite his current deal set to expire at the end of June the captain is still debating whether to sign a recently offered one-year extension.