Brighton came out to the big city, parked their club, went in for a cup of coffee and came out to a club on cinderblocks. Absolutely scrapped for parts.
It's a fear of accountability imo. It's why Fergie and his ilk got their way and small teams get shafted. Clubs with a profile that could kick up a fuss get the calls as a preventative measure. Happens in every sport. Robot refs now.
Easy to laugh but we clearly didn't rate him either. 5m would have killed three windows but we would have made 10 of those back when we flogged him asap.