said it himself rather from a source...hopefully it will be only weeks but without our captain I'm really worried now...only had to see what happened without his leadership on Sunday

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1330021/John-Terry-injury-shock-Chronic-leg-nerve-problem-rule-Chelsea-captain-months.html

Edited November 15, 201015 yr by The Brit

It's turning into a bit of a nightmare.

How long is Alex supposed to be out for?

incredible how things have turned so sour in the space of just over a week...reminds me of the 2006-7 season, where we lurched from blow after blow

Christ. Bad bad news. Right now we need a leader like Drogba, Essien or Cech to step up on the pitch and lead. I just wish that

Also, that article confuses me. It shows JT on the sidelines on sunday in street clothes. In the second half he was on the bench, in warms ups, acting like an assistant coach. That is the the role I would like to see him play while he is recovering. We need him there, involved, even if not playing.

Don't worry, we can always play Paulo at CB

Time for Alex to stay fit

Geez those quotes do not sound good at all. Get well soon Alex, and if not looks like it's time for Bruma to step up.

If he's out for months as the article says, we might well end up moving for a centre back in the January transfer window. Alex will always miss the odd game, and clearly Carlo doesn't think Bruma is ready to step in.

This is very bad news. Lampard and/or Drogba need to make sure they are forces of nature (as they have been in the past, and Drogba was in incredible form at the beginning of the season) when they get back to full fitness or we could really go down the tubes as far as morale is concerned.

Apart from the one-man shield that is Petr Cech, we have problems all over the field now.

surely we will buy in January now...alex appears to get niggles quite regularly and ancelotti clearly doesn't rate bruma...even if terry returns sooner, it is clearly going to be a constant worry in the background.

some have suggested ricky going was a mistake...it wasn't...not replacing him was the mistake...ricky demanded to go anyway

If he's out for months as the article says, we might well end up moving for a centre back in the January transfer window. Alex will always miss the odd game, and clearly Carlo doesn't think Bruma is ready to step in.

This is very bad news. Lampard and/or Drogba need to make sure they are forces of nature (as they have been in the past, and Drogba was in incredible form at the beginning of the season) when they get back to full fitness or we could really go down the tubes as far as morale is concerned.

Apart from the one-man shield that is Petr Cech, we have problems all over the field now.

It is really worrying that Bruma isn't good enough to start over Paulo.

I haven''t seen Bruma play any substantial minutes, but not being good enough to get a start has to be a worry. Paulo just can't play centre back to save his life.

Oh Joy. Well time for us to be linked with every half decent centre half in the world. I reckon Phillipe Mexes will be the first, maybe Luiz. Anyone else think of a name the Mail will come up with tomorrow morning?

If Alex and Ivan are both healthy this wouldn't be devastating but Alex's health is a question mark for sure. Paulo is no where near a starting calibre center back in the Premier League and it speaks volumes that he started at an unnatural position ahead of Bruma, Boswinga isn't a picture of durability himself and Zhirkov is needed in the midfield because of our lack of depth there. This back line is very, very thin. Last season we had Belletti and Carvalho to add to the above list but they clearly weren't replaced.

I wonder how much the club knew about this before the transfer window closed. From the article it sounds like this is nit a new injury for JT. If they knew he had a chronic nerve injury and a layoff like this was possible, why wasn't the squad strengthened?

Terrible news if it is confirmed that it could be months or worse. Having said that it sounds like the problem has got worse as he has continually tried patchwork solutions to get through each game. We can't buy until January and I'm pretty sure Alex is out for a few weeks too. Time for Carlo to show some faith in Bruma. I don't think we have many other options unless we recall either Mancienne or Cork from loan spells.

The fact that Terry was given the epidural treatment late last week also puts to rest the theory that this came out of the blue. So this will no doubt increase the speculation over what is going on behind the scenes. A couple of possible theories that I've seen floated about:

1) Carlo doesn't rate Bruma and would rather play Paulo out of position

2) Despite the fact that we knew JT was a doubt Arneson insisted Bruma turn out for the reserves against Bayern on Thursday. Quite a bit of chatter on another site suggesting Wilkins got into a heated argument with Arneson over Bruma and Sturridge playing and this led to his being shown the door.

Both theories are of course unproven and I bring this up because I've seen a lot talk on this site about how Carlo doesn't rate Bruma. OK that might the case but there is nothing confirmed to prove this. You could equally say that the fact he played a full 90 mins on Thursday led to Carlo selecting him on the bench. We will know for sure in the next few games when the same selection choices will be available. I'm hoping Bruma gets his chance and saves us some money in January.

In the meantime lets hope we don't get any more injuries. This is getting ridiculous.

incredible how things have turned so sour in the space of just over a week...reminds me of the 2006-7 season, where we lurched from blow after blow

Was thinking about the very same season. we were facing a rake of injuries (Lampard and Essien and Terry too?), and CR7 was off on a great run for the mancs

Alex apparently had a scan today so lets hope for a positive outcome there. We need either him or JT back before the big matches in December. Even if Bruma gets his chance and does well its asking a lot for him to be a starter for the next few months. Not to mention we will then be looking at Paulo, or one of the untried kids as backup should he or Ivan get injured or suspended. I suppose Patrick Van Aanholt is also an option although it is not his best position. I'm not sure what the rules are about recalling players from loans under emergency circumstances. If we can do it I would hope the club is already trying to get either Cork/Mancienne or both back pronto.

Oh Joy. Well time for us to be linked with every half decent centre half in the world. I reckon Phillipe Mexes will be the first, maybe Luiz. Anyone else think of a name the Mail will come up with tomorrow morning?

Rather than names like that, I would hope for someone like Phil Jones. A very talented defender, already a week in week out player for BRFC, and he would just add to a rich youth set up ready to break through.

I am just worried about what this will do to the squad, mentally. I feel like the next few games are critical to righting the ship. If we dont get some good results, and head into december (Everton, Spurs, Utd, Arsenal, Bolton.....thats a gauntlet) things could go very very wrong.

Time for Bruma to step up - if we don't play him now, he may as well move on.

If Carlo didn't rate Bruma, why would the club offer him a new deal? If he's good enough for the Dutch team he should be good enough for us.

He's not going to get any better if he's wrapped in cotton wool. He needs to get used to Premiership pace and get battle-hardened. The only way to do that is to play him. In this crisis, cosseting him and easing him onto the team isn't an option.

As to who we sign in the transfer window, I doubt any top players will be available. I can't even think of an old stalwart with CL experience who's available and might be able to do a job.

How long is Alex supposed to be out for?

Alternate weeks if the trend continues.

I don`t want to sound pessimistic but we can wave goodbye to the title this year if there is any truth in this story. Worst possible news.

If Carlo didn't rate Bruma, why would the club offer him a new deal? If he's good enough for the Dutch team he should be good enough for us.

He's not going to get any better if he's wrapped in cotton wool. He needs to get used to Premiership pace and get battle-hardened. The only way to do that is to play him. In this crisis, cosseting him and easing him onto the team isn't an option.

Good post and that pretty much sums up our youth policy where we are prepared to play players out of position than gamble on a "promising" youngster.

As to who we sign in the transfer window, I doubt any top players will be available. I can't even think of an old stalwart with CL experience who's available and might be able to do a job.

If we are willing to go out and splash the money I am sure there are top players that can be bought but I am pretty sure that Messrs Gourlay & Co have other plans in store. Its for us to wait and watch it unfold.

I don't think we'll be the only ones scratching around for 11 fit players come Xmas. The PL is becoming a gladiatorial sport for the amusement of a bloodthirsty tv audience. Don't fancy anyone's chances in the CL right now

Terrible news, in terms of a potential signing in January, what about a Gary Gahill, he's similar to JT and only 24 years old with plenty of Premier League experience and Bolton have said recently that if a team comes in for him they'd probably have to sell due to their debt.

It is clear that with an aging squad a rebuild is required hence the appearance of youth teams players on the bench and pitch.

They will play a more active role as the season progresses.

My impression is that the club's target this year is not the EPL it's the CL.

Not winning the league? Raise a glass when we reach the number of points to keep us safe from relegation. Spoilt.

I don`t want to sound pessimistic but we can wave goodbye to the title this year if there is any truth in this story. Worst possible news.

I wouldn't say its all over for us but the league look a lot tougher with this piece of news. I hope we have a recall clause in place for Mancienne, Cork and Matic because if we decide not to spend we need all possible reinforcements.

Imagine if Ivanovic had picked up the red on Sunday (as he should have!) - as it is he is now on four yellows.

If we are looking at buying in Jan (don't think we will), Taylor of Newcastle would be a good shout.