Chelsea's players are facing showdown talks with sports shrink Regina Brandao.

New Blues boss Luiz Felipe Scolari is very much his own man but he taps into Brandao's expertise at every opportunity. Even when it comes to selecting his captain.

Before arriving in Switzerland with the Portugal squad for the European Championship, Brandao sat down with every player and then delivered a psychological profile to Scolari of each one. As a result, Nuno Gomes was given the captain's armband with Cristiano Ronaldo appointed as his deputy.

Players who worry Brandao may not last too long under Scolari. One report in Portugal suggested Rui Costa was finished as an international footballer in the wake of a meeting with her, when he apparently told Brandao he saw himself as an individual and not as a team player. An absolute no-no for Big Phil, says the Daily Mail.

Scolari's trust in Brandao is extraordinary.

"Regina reached me in a way even my wife, Olga, could not," he said. "She changed my approach to life and to my job, by getting me to think of my team not as footballers but as men."