Gary Neville: 'It's not the end of the world' for John Terry, despite Chelsea captain being taken off at half-time at Manchester City

Ageing Chelsea captain is far from finished

John Terry sits on the bench behind Jose Mourinho (Getty Images)

Gary Neville believes John Terry is far from finished at the top level, despite the fallout from his substitution against Manchester City.

The Chelsea captain was taken off at half-time of the 3-0 defeat at the Etihad on Sunday, with Jose Mourinho effectively making the former England captain a scapegoat for a terrible first-half performance from the Blues.

In the aftermath of the game, various pundits and column inches were asking the question of whether Mourinho's decision to take him off meant the beginning of the end for Terry.

Former Manchester United and England right-back Gary Neville, whose own career pretty much came to an end after a dreadful performance at West Bromwich Albion, believes tales of Terry's decline are overblown.

"John Terry is 34, and this is going to happen," said Neville on Sky Sports' Monday Night Football.

"He’ll wake up this morning and the world’s ending, his career’s over – but I saw Jamie Carragher sit on the bench for Liverpool for 18 months, I’ve seen the same with myself when I was substituted three times within 55 minutes in my last year at United.

"I saw it with Steve Bruce at the end of his career at United, when I was playing alongside him, or with Tony Adams for England, or with Laurent Blanc. It happens."

John Terry has brought a Ferrari 275 GTB worth a reported £1.5m (Instagram/John Terry)

Terry posted a picture on Instagram of a new £1.5million Ferrari he bought for himself, perhaps to make himself feel better after getting the blame.

"There will be certain games where, as a 34-year-old centre-back, other players will need to start to be phased in," Neville added.

"My genuine belief is that it's not the end of the world for John Terry. It was a big shock to him yesterday, and it's almost like a public embarrassment - we've been there.

"But I don't buy into the fact that his career's over."