I think the outside of the stadium would have been broadly similar, but without TB we would not have had the padded seats, media facilities, player warm up areas, concourses and office areas equipped inside to anything like the same standard. The original budget was in the £50 million bracket, compared to the actual cost of nearly twice that. It still takes my breath away every time I see it.
In true TB style, I think he kept his cards close to his chest, didn't reveal the extent of his bankrolling of the club (until the final season at Withdean) and that gave the club an upper hand when negotiating with constructors for the stadium contract.
As well as that commitment, he's supported the managers too. Remember how giddy we were when Will Hoskins became our equal record signing just over five years ago, quickly followed by Will Buckley, for a million.
Today we are totally blase about million pound signings. In the last 15 months we have signed Murphy, Hemed, Uwe, Manu, Skalal and Knockaert for seven figure sums. Only two of them are regular starters, such is the strength of the squad. Yet we have lost only 7 games in 63 league matches. Compare that to Palace (yes we know which division they are in) who, despite spending a fortune in the last couple of windows have a record in 2016 of 5 wins 7 draws and 17 defeats in the league.
) now i am not suggesting anything other than to say that post 2 was the correct answer.
