A BIG warm hello to the dear readers at The New Paper, I was back in England for a short vacation. Did you miss me?

Back in England, I was catching up with my old pals in English football and getting dollops of gossip from them.

All thanks to my old pal Kevin Hitchcock, the Man City goalkeeper coach, as well as City manager Mark Hughes, I was invited to train with City for a couple of days.

I had been looking forward to it, just so I can get an insight of how the Blue half of Manchester is feeling now with lots of petrol money in their kitty.

The riches from the new Arab owners, the Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG), are already making an impact at Eastlands.

The club's operating budget, for example, has increased multi-fold, according to City's club secretary Bernard Halford.

Halford revealed that one of the 'welcome gifts' from ADUG is a private jumbo jet for the first-team.

The white-coloured plane - which seats 155 passengers when in service - has huge words 'MCFC' in sky blue painted right across the sides.

What were originally the first-class and business-class sections were converted into 'suites' for the City first-team.

The plane seats were ripped out and replaced with state-of-the-art sofa-beds.

They even installed a physiotherapy room right at the back of the plane - just in case a player needs treatment for his injuries or massages for his tired limbs.

Increased budget

Apart from the 'big-ticket' items, the increase in budget also means the club can operate more professionally.

Do you know that when City players swapped shirts with opponents or threw the jerseys to the fans, the club used to deduct ?30 ($80) from the players' wages?

They don't have to any more, thanks to ADUG.

I was speaking to the City kit-man one day, and asked if I could have a few pairs of new boots and footballs to bring back to Oman for the needy. He gave me 20 pairs of boots and 10 footballs!

The kit-man explained that the club's training equipment used to be limited due to budget constraints, and the first-team even had to train with old and tattered footballs.

But now there is ample supply for everyone from the academy to the first team.

With so much money in the club, I had expected the City players to be revelling in optimism that comes with playing for the richest club in the world.

But no, the feeling I got from the first team is one of fear.

What could they be worried about?

With cash to splash on top-class players like Robinho, the first team should be looking forward to an exciting season ahead, shouldn't they?

No. As one first team player told me privately, the City lads are worried that they will lose their jobs.

If the new City owners make good their promise to sign any football superstars they can get their hands on, chances are the attrition rate among current players will be high.

If the likes of Nemanja Vidic, Gianluigi Buffon and Lionel Messi are to join City, surely players like Richard Dunne, Joe Hart and Stephen Ireland will drop down the pecking order.

I revealed the players' fear to club secretary Halford, and he assured me City are not going to spend like there is no tomorrow.

Contrary to what former ADUG figurehead Dr Sulaiman Al-Fahim boasted, City are not prepared to splash silly money on over-priced players.

In fact, Dr Sulaiman had been removed from his role at Man City - probably for boasting that ADUG will break the bank to sign any player they fancy.

Halford insisted that such squandering will never happen.

City do have the money, he said, but that money will be used wisely and in full consultation with Hughes and the board.

That is nice to hear. At least City did not let all that money go to the head.

John 'Budgie' Burridge played 771 league games in the English and Scottish leagues for over 30 years. A regular pundit for the Football Channel (Ch 27), the former Newcastle United and Manchester City goalkeeper is known for his colourful and controversial takes on the Premiership. He is speaking to Stanley Ho.