THEIR behaviour, particularly as far as the manager is concerned, has not been that of a club craving approval. There are signs, however, that even Chelsea realise that they are making far too many enemies for a business that aspires to be the world’s most popular football brand.

There has been no reading of the riot act but demands for less damaging headlines are understood to have been passed down the line from Bruce Buck, the chairman, to Peter Kenyon, the chief executive, and on to José Mourinho. The Chelsea manager has been avoiding press conferences in England and his employer is hoping that, the next time he talks, he does not sound like a man intent on picking a fight.

Yet although they intend to steer clear of more trouble, especially after the most recent charges relating to the Ashley Cole “tapping-up” affair, Chelsea could not bite their tongue yesterday. Kenyon issued a statement forcibly responding to Uefa’s allegations relating to the European Cup tie against Barcelona at the Nou Camp. Specifically, he expressed his anger at the torrent of attacks coming from William Gaillard, the European governing body’s director of communications.

“Chelsea are both surprised and disappointed that at least one individual within Uefa appears to have launched an unprecedented attack on the club, regardless of the fact that Chelsea has co-operated fully with the inquiries related to the charges against us,” Kenyon said.

Informed of Kenyon’s criticism, Gaillard could not resist another response in which he accused Chelsea of feeling the pressure before the disciplinary hearing next Thursday, when they must answer disrepute charges against Mourinho, Steve Clarke, his assistant, and Les Miles, the security officer, as well as allegations of failing to attend a press conference and sending the team out late for the second half in the Nou Camp.

“I regret the fact that they want to get things on a personal basis,” Gaillard said. “I can say Uefa is not going down this route. We have made our statement and I explained it — that’s it. Frankly, I don’t want to get into a personal polemic. I must say that all along we have had cordial conversations with Chelsea. I don’t understand why they have made this statement and I can tell you that nobody at Uefa can understand it either. Maybe they are emotional. I understand that they are under stress at the moment and I regret that.”

The charges from Uefa are the most serious of all the disciplinary issues that are mounting in Chelsea’s in-tray. The Cole saga is likely to result only in fines for Chelsea and Mourinho if they are found guilty, but Uefa is likely to issue a touchline ban.

Chelsea should be capable of beating Bayern Munich in the European Cup quarter-finals wherever Mourinho sits, but the Portuguese will not want to be isolated from his players. The Premiership club are standing by their version of events in Barcelona and Kenyon’s statement yesterday carried a strong defence of Mourinho, Clarke and Miles.

“Chelsea fully adheres to, and respects, the processes of Uefa and is under no illusion about the seriousness of these charges,” he said. “We will defend these in the correct and proper manner and within the guidelines laid down by Uefa.

“However, the statements against Chelsea, José Mourinho, Steve Clarke and Les Miles by at least one senior Uefa official means we are no longer able to keep our own counsel, which we have consistently done since submitting our report to Uefa following the Barcelona-Chelsea first-leg match. These various statements have called into question publicly the integrity of our manager, assistant coach, security officer and the club as a whole and we cannot allow these to stand unchallenged.

“Chelsea utterly refutes that the club, or any of its representatives, participated in a deliberate ploy of false declarations or lies in order to cynically influence the result of the tie, to put pressure on refereeing officials or poison the atmosphere between the teams. All statements in our report submitted to Uefa were made in good faith and are honestly held.”

In the endless ping-pong between Nyon and Stamford Bridge, Gaillard again insisted that Chelsea had concocted their story about a meeting between Frank Rijkaard and Anders Frisk at half-time in the Nou Camp. Although acknowledging that the Barcelona manager and the referee had spoken in the tunnel, Gaillard reiterated his claim that Frisk “sent Rijkaard back to the Barcelona dressing-room. This is in the referee’s report ”.

Meanwhile, Chelsea had to attend another hearing yesterday when Adrian Mutu appeared before a Premier League commission. The striker is being sued for £8 million by his former employer after his dismissal for gross misconduct for taking cocaine.