But the Latics manager rejects such talk and has pointed to his dealings in the transfer market this season to back up his argument.
Jewell said: "I had to laugh when I saw Stan's quotes about us being the Chelsea of the First Division.
"That is just not true because we have only really added one player to the squad since we came up. We brought Geoff Horsfield here earlier in the season, and then when he went again, we bought Jason Roberts.
"That is the one permanent outfield addition so it's wide of the mark to say we've been spending a lot of money.
"There are a lot of clubs in this division who have spent more money over the years.
"We are establishing ourselves at this level, and when you look at our position, we're doing well.
"There are some bigger names down near the bottom of the table, such as Nottingham Forest and Derby, so I think that shows we are doing well.
"We're being seen now as a big scalp at home, and Burnley were wasting time against us on Saturday with 15 minutes still to go.
"But Rotherham were doing that in the first minute on Boxing Day, so at least it was 75 minutes after them!"
Jewell accepts he would have liked to have made more additions to the squad by now and spend more of the club's transfer budget.
He is still confident he can land a couple of targets before too long, although he's currently playing a waiting game.
Meanwhile, Jewell has admitted the state of the pitch at the JJB has forced him to have a rethink of the team's tactics.
The surface has steadily deteriorated over the winter months and heavy rain before the Burnley game turned it into a mud heap.
It has almost certainly forced Terry O'Connor's testimonial game on Sunday to be switched elsewhere and it has to be hoped there is some improvement before Latics' next home game against Derby County on Valentine's Day.
Jewell said: "I get envious when I watch the highlights of other games and see teams playing on green grass.
"When we play at home at the moment we're having to change things.
"On Saturday, I told the lads not to play any football in certain areas because the pitch wasn't suitable.
"We normally like to get it down and get Jimmy Bullard on the ball.
"It slowed our pace players down too and it became a bit of a slog for them.
"I don't want to make too much of it because it can play on the lads' minds and have a negative effect.
"But I will be glad when the rain goes and we get back to something which resembles a decent pitch.
"People said the same thing about the pitch last year and wondered whether it would affect our chances.
"Fortunately we were so far clear that it didn't, and this season we'll just have to deal with it.
"As I've said before, we've looked at changing the pitch, but it's not feasible."
Article Courtesy of the Wigan Evening Post.