Jose Mourinho on the brink with senior Chelsea players bracing themselve...

Chelsea's senior players are braced for Jose Mourinho’s departure – with many believing it is a case of ‘when not if’ their manager is axed.

Dressing-room sources are adamant that there has been no rebellion against Mourinho - but there is an increasing bemusement at the behaviour of the Portuguese manager.

The Blues boss had already been hit by a £50,000 fine and a suspended one-match stadium ban for criticising referee Bob Madley after the home defeat by Southampton earlier this month.

And his sending-off for confronting ref Jon Moss in Saturday’s defeat at West Ham was met by shock among players, most of whom privately believed that the red card for Nemanja Matic – which triggered the Blues manager’s latest meltdown – was a justified decision.

While a handful of players have aired grievances about Mourinho, there is an insistence that the manager has not “lost the dressing-room” and a feeling, in the words of one, that “we just want our Jose back”.Yet there is a belief that Mourinho cannot currently lift himself to display his famed motivational powers.