Is Jose Mourinho Adopting Another Siege Mentality at Chelsea?

When Chelsea won the Premier League in 2005, it was very much Jose Mourinho and his players against the world.

Roman Abramovich's cash injection had transformed the club from title also-rans to juggernauts. They were no longer pretenders, the quiet men. They were loud, bolshy and ready to claim the crown of being England's finest.

Chelsea were making big noises—in the transfer market and, most importantly, on the pitch.

They ruffled the establishment's feathers with a manager who wasn't afraid to use the slightest jibe or perceived injustice as a way of motivating his players.

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Mourinho amplified everything to new heights. And it worked, with his team winning back-to-back titles while coming close to lifting the Champions League.

As we look ahead to the second half of the Premier League, the Chelsea boss seems to be doing it all again. That same siege mentality is setting in at Stamford Bridge.

Mourinho is a calculated operator. He knows how to give journalists what they want, yet equally he knows how to manipulate them to play his own games and serve his agenda.

Over Christmas, he dominated the back pages with talk of a "campaign" against Chelsea, and he's upping the ante in all areas.

Something interesting occurred this week. Ahead of his routine pre-match press conference ahead of Newcastle United's visit to west London, Mourinho was confirmed to be attending, only for Chelsea to later replace him with assistant manager Steve Holland.

It's not out of the ordinary for such things to happen, but the timing—coming not long after the announcement Mourinho was being charged by the English Football Association for perceived comments about referees—suggests it was he who made the call.

With everything going on, he didn't want to address the media and face the scrutiny of the inevitable questions that would come his way.

It's also another way of him amplifying the notion of this campaign aimed at Chelsea.

Now, the FA are involved in it, and he's being gagged as a result. Everyone it seems wants to get at Chelsea, and the manager is being forced to avoid speaking publicly.

Well, that's the message Mourinho seems to be pushing, anyhow.

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Until this point, we've seen the Chelsea boss with a smile. There have been moments where he's shown that the old mantra remains, but for the most part, he's been polite and more stand-offish by comparison.

Nice doesn't win league titles, though. Mourinho knows that all too well.

Now, he's turning up the heat, leading from the front like we've seen before. He's sending messages to all involved—the media, his rivals and his players.

He wants those under him to dig in and not just battle to win games on a Saturday but fight to beat the establishment that doesn't want them to win.

In 2005, he took on UEFA after an incident-filled Champions League tie with Barcelona at the Nou Camp. Chelsea lost 2-1, and accusations about the performance of referee Anders Frisk dominated the intervening weeks ahead of the second leg in London.

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Chelsea went on to win that game 4-2, although it was about so much more than coming out on top in a game of football. It was about making a statement, and the atmosphere inside Stamford Bridge that night reflected it.

Chelsea had beaten Barcelona; they had also defeated UEFA in the process.

No matter what was thrown at Chelsea, the message was that they would always be victorious.

It galvanised his squad, brought them together and helped form a bond with players that has lasted to this day.

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Mourinho thrives on such moments. He needs an adversary to focus his attentions on, and sometimes, a league rival isn't enough.

In his eyes, Mourinho needs much more than Manchester City.

Now, it's "the media, commentators, other managers [who] are all doing it," he says, explaining how referees are being put under undue pressure by system campaigning against Chelsea being successful.

What more motivation could his players need to get their title challenge back on track against Newcastle on Saturday?

Garry Hayes is Bleacher Report's lead Chelsea correspondent. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter @garryhayes.