Eva Carneiro has become one of the most recognisable faces on Premier League benches, the woman doctor who Chelsea have relied upon to treat their injured players. But in the space of only four days, her relationship with Jose Mourinho has deteriorated so badly that we may not see her again. On Saturday, Carneiro and her colleague Jon Fearn angered the Chelsea manager by rushing on to the pitch to tend to Eden Hazard near the end of the 2-2 draw with Swansea. Read Mourinho’s reaction below:
‘I wasn’t happy with my medical staff because even if you are a medical doctor or secretary on the bench you have to understand the game,’ said Mourinho. You have to know that when you have one player less and, in the end, you go on to the pitch to assist a player then you must be sure that a player has a serious problem.
‘I was sure that Eden didn’t have a serious problem. He had a knock and was very tired. My medical department left me with eight fit players in a counter-attack after a set piece and we were worried we didn’t have enough players left.’
Carneiro was hurt by that and Chelsea fans rushed to send her messages of support. On Monday she posted on Facebook:
‘I would like to thank the general public for their overwhelming support. Really very much appreciated.’
But instead of patching things up with her, Mourinho took more drastic action. The 41-year-old, who was born in Gibraltar, will keep her job title as first-team doctor but she will not be allowed at training sessions, matches or the team hotel.
That surely puts her future at the club in doubt. Fearn is likely to receive the same treatment but a late decision will be made on him as the club need a physio on the bench for Sunday’s crucial match at Manchester City.