John Terry's influence at Chelsea goes beyond just being a key component in a winning side, writes John Brodkin

When a disgruntled Chelsea supporter wanted his feelings about Michael Ballack relayed to the midfielder on Wednesday, his choice of emissary was revealing. Jose Mourinho, sitting nearby in the dug-out, was ignored. So too were Ballack's team-mates in action against Blackburn Rovers. Instead the fan turned towards an injured player watching from the bench. "JT," he bawled, "tell Ballack to show some b***s." It highlighted how significant a figure John Terry has become at Stamford Bridge.

Leader, motivator, organiser and tone-setter on the field, Terry belongs in that band of players who go beyond being just a key component in a successful side.

"You can't go out and replace John Terry, no matter how much money you've got," Chris Coleman, the Fulham manager, has said. It is why Chelsea are relieved to have their captain back today.

Terry's return after back surgery comes at Charlton, bringing a feeling of security to Chelsea and regret for their opponents. In eight Premiership matches without Terry since mid-December, Chelsea have conceded 10 goals; in the previous eight with him the figure was four. The champions have hardly been helped by an injury to Khalid Boulahrouz and an illness that sidelined Ricardo Carvalho at Anfield, but Mourinho has not hidden how much Terry has been missed. If the nine points Chelsea dropped during the defender's absence effectively cost them the title it will be reminiscent of the jolt Manchester United suffered in 1984 when they lost their inspirational captain, Bryan Robson. Liverpool captured the championship and memories of Robson suffering his injury at the training ground remain fresh for Ron Atkinson, the then United manager.

"We had gone top of the league with 10 games to play and beaten Barcelona in the quarter-finals of the Cup Winners' Cup," he recalls. "It was the day before we were going to play Juventus in the semi-final and I had the Italian press in my office, with a big glass window looking out onto the training ground. Training had finished but a few of the players were still out there and I saw Robbo whack a ball and then grab the back of his leg and I thought: 'Oh no, bloody hell.' He had done his hamstring . . . We limped without him."

United won only once after Robson's injury. Chelsea's dip has been less dramatic without Terry, and they have time to repair the damage, but Atkinson sees parallels between the two captains, not least in their aura and tactical nous.

"Sometimes there are those special players," he says. "I think back to Tony Adams at Arsenal as well. If ever the team-sheet came in without their name on, psychologically it was a big lift for the opposition. If the fella's been doubtful and suddenly he's in, it's the other way round. Terry might be a more vocal captain than Robbo. Robbo was vocal but Terry seems very vocal. When he's not having to do his job he can be looking round and sorting out others."

Unquenchable spirit and will to win can be added to the list, bringing parallels with Roy Keane and Dave Mackay among others. Mackay was a huge part of Tottenham's success in the 1960s.

"There's a lot of John Terry that reminds me of Dave Mackay," says Alan Mullery, who played with the Scot at Spurs. "Not on ability, because Dave Mackay was a truly great footballer, but they are both born leaders and you can see Terry is an inspiration for Chelsea in the way Dave Mackay was for Tottenham. And very, very seldom do those players drop below a certain level of consistency."

With a competitiveness that stretches to throwing their bodies where others would never dare, such individuals set a standard for team-mates. Mourinho queried recently whether some of his players possess the strength to fight in difficult periods but he would never ask that question of Terry. Mullery recalls how Mackay, too, refused to accept defeat. "I had a pelvic injury that kept me out for three months," he says, "and the physio said: 'Dave Mackay would play with that.'"

Even Mackay's body got the better of him at times. He broke his left leg twice in nine months. The reaction of his manager, Bill Nicholson, was instructive. "I was sitting next to Bill Nicholson coming back from West Ham and it was the first time I ever saw him in tears," says Mullery.

When injury ruled Mackay out of the 1963 Cup Winners' Cup final against Atletico Madrid, it is said Nicholson gave a downbeat team-talk; that his confidence seemed to have gone. Spurs won 5-1 after Danny Blanchflower made a rousing address but Nicholson's submissive pre-match mind-set sums up how one player can affect the mood.

Off the pitch, too, such players' presence is felt. "Whenever Dave Mackay came into the club people stopped what they were doing and concentrated on him," Mullery says. "It was very similar with Bobby Moore(with England and West Ham). That would happen, I'm sure, with John Terry, and Terry, like Dave Mackay, has that immense determination."

That quality was shown, too, by Adams at Arsenal. "Sometimes when you are struggling for form or being overrun, players like that can make a difference," says his former team-mate Nigel Winterburn. "It wasn't just Tony who would do it but he would stick out his chest, make an unbelievable tackle, gallop up the pitch with the ball and set up play going forward. Instances like that can turn a period of pressure, give confidence to players, get you going, get a reaction from the crowd and change the course of a game slightly."

Chelsea fans will recall similar contributions from Terry and be familiar with a significant captaincy trait picked out by Winterburn. "I think what you are looking for is someone who is strong mentally, so when things aren't going well and maybe he isn't particularly playing well, he doesn't let that get through to the players," he says. "Patrick (Vieira) was like that and I think it's the same for Tony and John Terry. Even if they are not playing well, they don't make things easy for the opposition. You look at some players and say: 'I reckon I can get the better of him and have a good afternoon.' Those top players - those leaders - don't ever make it easy for you."

Guardian Service