John Terry has stridently backed Jose Mourinho, saying that any player who wanted to lose "wouldn't get out of the dressing room," and that the Portuguese would not be sacked by Chelsea.
After the club's 3-1 defeat to Liverpool at the weekend, it had been reported that one player had told a representative that he would "rather lose than win" for the manager because things at the club had got so bad.
Terry refuted this before offering an impassioned defence of his manager.
"Again, listen, in my whole football career I've never heard a player come out with those words," he told a news conference. "In my whole career. Whether it's been going bad or really bad. It's ridiculous I have to sit here and talk about it.
"I've seen players' faces with the disappointment after results, the feeling we've let the club, and the manager and the fans, down. The player wouldn't be let out of the dressing room, let's be honest. It wouldn't go down too well, would it?"
Asked whether the poor run of form that has seen the club lose six of their 11 Premier League games would cost Mourinho his job, Terry was defiant.
"It's not going to come to that," he said. "The club have shown faith in the best manager with the best history at this club.
"In all aspects, of all the managers I've worked with, he's by far and a long, long way, the best I've worked with. We are going to turn it around. No ifs, no buts.
"I'm sure, and I'm adamant, that we'll turn this around and he'll be in charge for the rest of the season and long after I've finished playing for this club. He is the man to take this club forward to where we want to be."
Sources have told ESPN FC that Mourinho has two matches to save his job, while it has been reported that star player Eden Hazard is angling for a move to Paris-Saint Germain or Real Madrid, but Terry insisted that the best players and managers in the world need to stay in the Premier League.
"We've heard all this about Jose and Eden," he added. "For me, we're talking about the best manager I've seen in a long time at this club, and Eden being one of the best players I've seen at this club.
"There's been talk of them leaving the club and going elsewhere, but for me they have to be in the Premier League. We have to keep the best people in English football, making it the best football in the world.
"The only we do that is with the best manager, Jose. And Eden is by far and away one of the best players I've worked with."