Andrew Fifield / On the Premiership: You may have missed it, but just audible above the collective crackle of broken bones, on-pitch resignations and sobbing Birmingham fans last weekend, were Chelsea's Premiership title celebrations.

The begrudgers will say this was a good day to bury bad news.

It has certainly become fashionable to pour scorn at English football's answer to the Harlem Globe Trotters and the wearying cycle of sulking, spending and scowling which accompanies them.

There is also the nagging suspicion Jose Mourinho's side has regressed this season. One less trophy is ensconced in the cabinet, Champions League success has remained elusive and, for much of the season, Chelsea's precious gems have lacked sparkle. From the swaggering fancy dans of west London folklore, they have become the equivalent of successful chartered accountants - methodical and meticulous, but rather dull.

Nobody knows this better than Mourinho himself. The Portuguese has admitted he has not enjoyed this season, appearing ground down by the endless scandals and rucks. After Saturday's 3-0 victory over Manchester United he even suggested he was ready to don his overcoat and swish out of Stamford Bridge's front doors for good.

"This is the worst club in the world to manage," he muttered darkly as the champagne flowed around him. "You can win, you can achieve, but it is never enough." At Chelsea's title feast, Mourinho was both the guest-of-honour and the unwelcome spectre.

Poor Jose appears to be in need of a little loving, so here we go. The club might enjoy unrivalled riches and an enviable pool of players, but the achievement of winning back-to-back titles cannot be sneered at. The fact that only 10 other clubs have ever managed it gives it a kudos all of its own.

Mourinho has mastered the extraordinarily difficult art of producing champion teams with an insatiable desire for success. He has now won four consecutive league titles in Portugal and England, and that is no fluke. His players feed off their manager's drive and determination, defeating opponents with their spirit as much as their class, and that is to Mourinho's eternal credit.

John Terry and Frank Lampard are usually heralded as the keystones of Chelsea's success, with just cause, but great players are only made so by the contributions of those around them, and Chelsea's main men would be the first to acknowledge the contributions of William Gallas and Claude Makelele.

There is a neat dichotomy at the heart of New Chelsea - that the man who has made their domination possible, Roman Abramovich, is a product of the new spirit of private enterprise in Russia since the fall of communism, while his chosen manager, Mourinho, espouses the kind of collectivism which would not have looked out of place in the oil tycoon's native Siberia.

Gallas and Makelele epitomise this spirit. Neither are poster-boys and neither appear comfortable when thrust to centre-stage, but their readiness to graft and labour for their team-mates is unflinching.

Makelele is, perhaps, the more celebrated of the two. His value to Real Madrid was only truly appreciated when he left for Stamford Bridge in 2003, as the Spaniards suddenly found themselves being overrun in the midfield he used to patrol with such ruthless authority.

Now he does the same for Chelsea. Lampard may hog the headlines with his astonishing goal return, but the local boy can only burst forward with such impunity because he knows Makelele will be mopping up behind him.

The Frenchman is not afraid of dirty work and his attitude was encapsulated in one mischievous moment on Saturday, when he blocked off a promising charge from Ji-Sung Park with a cynical obstruction.

Makelele took the booking, as he has done on 11 other occasions this season, but his selflessness enabled Chelsea to regroup and defend in numbers.

Gallas is a different creature. The former Marseille defender is more prone to attracting attention for the wrong reasons - witness his ugly thumbs-down gestures to Fulham fans after being sent off at Craven Cottage in March - and he has not been shy in publicly airing his grievances since arriving five years ago.

But that does not diminish his value. Chelsea's defence has creaked on occasion this season, but their weak points are at full back rather than in the centre. Gallas, like Terry, is blessed with supreme aerial ability and an uncanny positional awareness which enables him to snuff out attacks before they even have a chance to ignite. He can even chip in with useful goals, as he proved again on Saturday.

Mourinho will be busy spending Roman's roubles this summer but the most important business he can conduct is persuading Gallas to sign a new contract.

That would not only keep the league's meanest defence intact, but also preserve the group dynamic which has been so instrumental in turning Chelsea from flaky also-rans into worthy champions.