Newcastle boss Chris Hughton does not envy Manchester City counterpart Roberto Mancini's breathtaking spending power.
The two men will occupy the dug-outs at Eastlands on Sunday having shopped in very different markets this summer.
Mancini's £26million swoop for midfielder James Milner alone dwarfed his Magpies counterpart's entire budget, and he had earlier invested similar funds in David Silva, Yaya Toure and Mario Balotelli in a spending spree which far exceeded £100million.
By contrast, Hughton had little choice but to do his business at a more modest level in the wake of promotion back to the Barclays Premier League as he drafted in free agent Sol Campbell, James Perch, Dan Gosling, Cheik Tiote and Hatem Ben Arfa.
However, the former Republic of Ireland defender admits there is probably more pressure on the Italian as he attempts to reward that investment with trophies than there is on him as he sets his sights on little more than top-flight survival.
Asked if he was envious, Hughton said: "No, not at all.
"The pressure and the stress he is under is no different to any other manager. There is always expectation and you have to live up to that expectation.
"Of course for him, it is perhaps a greater expectation, but there is pressure whether you are at the top end of the table or the bottom end of the table."
Ultimately, managers are judged on their results, but also on their signings, and on both fronts, Hughton can be relatively satisfied with his lot six games into the league campaign.
The Magpies headed into the weekend sitting in 10th place on seven points, and knowing two huge opportunities to increase that tally had been squandered in home defeats by Blackpool and Stoke.
However, Frenchman Ben Arfa announced his arrival in English football with a stunning winner at Everton on September 18, and Ivory Coast international Tiote was a big hit with the fans when he made his first home start last weekend.
Hughton said: "If I look generally, most of the signings who have come in have very much played their part in what we are trying to do here amongst the ups and downs.
"The latest additions, Ben Arfa and Tiote, it's normal that it takes a little bit of time to settle in, but they have both settled in very well and they both feel very much part of what we are trying to do here.
"The most important thing is that anybody who comes in is part of a squad which is giving us real competition."
Tiote has certainly done that, and Hughton was delighted to finally get his hands on the 24-year-old FC Twente midfielder after monitoring his situation for some time.
He played in all three of his country's games at the World Cup finals in South Africa in the company of the likes of Chelsea striker Didier Drogba and City duo Kolo and Yaya Toure, and looked far from out of place.
Hughton said: "He is a player I tracked for quite some time.
"I was aware of him and I was probably more delighted than anything to get him because of the amount of time we spent trying to bring him in.
"He is an unselfish player, he is very much a defensive midfield player who has very good use of the ball, and I think he is a wonderful addition for us. He can play.
"At the moment he is playing in the Ivory Coast team, and when you look at the quality in that team, he has played the last 10 games for them.
"That's why his standard has risen over this last year."
The two men will occupy the dug-outs at Eastlands on Sunday having shopped in very different markets this summer.
Mancini's £26million swoop for midfielder James Milner alone dwarfed his Magpies counterpart's entire budget, and he had earlier invested similar funds in David Silva, Yaya Toure and Mario Balotelli in a spending spree which far exceeded £100million.
By contrast, Hughton had little choice but to do his business at a more modest level in the wake of promotion back to the Barclays Premier League as he drafted in free agent Sol Campbell, James Perch, Dan Gosling, Cheik Tiote and Hatem Ben Arfa.
However, the former Republic of Ireland defender admits there is probably more pressure on the Italian as he attempts to reward that investment with trophies than there is on him as he sets his sights on little more than top-flight survival.
Asked if he was envious, Hughton said: "No, not at all.
"The pressure and the stress he is under is no different to any other manager. There is always expectation and you have to live up to that expectation.
"Of course for him, it is perhaps a greater expectation, but there is pressure whether you are at the top end of the table or the bottom end of the table."
Ultimately, managers are judged on their results, but also on their signings, and on both fronts, Hughton can be relatively satisfied with his lot six games into the league campaign.
The Magpies headed into the weekend sitting in 10th place on seven points, and knowing two huge opportunities to increase that tally had been squandered in home defeats by Blackpool and Stoke.
However, Frenchman Ben Arfa announced his arrival in English football with a stunning winner at Everton on September 18, and Ivory Coast international Tiote was a big hit with the fans when he made his first home start last weekend.
Hughton said: "If I look generally, most of the signings who have come in have very much played their part in what we are trying to do here amongst the ups and downs.
"The latest additions, Ben Arfa and Tiote, it's normal that it takes a little bit of time to settle in, but they have both settled in very well and they both feel very much part of what we are trying to do here.
"The most important thing is that anybody who comes in is part of a squad which is giving us real competition."
Tiote has certainly done that, and Hughton was delighted to finally get his hands on the 24-year-old FC Twente midfielder after monitoring his situation for some time.
He played in all three of his country's games at the World Cup finals in South Africa in the company of the likes of Chelsea striker Didier Drogba and City duo Kolo and Yaya Toure, and looked far from out of place.
Hughton said: "He is a player I tracked for quite some time.
"I was aware of him and I was probably more delighted than anything to get him because of the amount of time we spent trying to bring him in.
"He is an unselfish player, he is very much a defensive midfield player who has very good use of the ball, and I think he is a wonderful addition for us. He can play.
"At the moment he is playing in the Ivory Coast team, and when you look at the quality in that team, he has played the last 10 games for them.
"That's why his standard has risen over this last year."
HUGHTON NOT JEALOUS OF MANCINI
![HUGHTON NOT JEALOUS OF MANCINI]()
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