As I say to the Missus, size doesn't matter. I remember going to Santander away in 2008 (capacity 20,000) - atmosphere was electric in a dead rubber European game.
I go to most away games, and the excellent idea to give tickets to the youngsters has definitely made our already excellent away support even louder (although I would like them to lay off the coke and concourse instagram nonsense). So we know when we are compact and together, we can be as loud as any support.
The problem is all the shite (DJ music rubbish, light shows, announcers, etc) that's become part of modern top flight football. The tourists love it (god bless them and their half and half scarves), and the total saturation of football on every handheld device and TV. The 'uniqueness' of the game has gone for most, and the poor design of the Etihad with the prawn sandwich eaters (who only ever appear 10 mins after half time) slicing through the tiers means its never going to happen. We will never have that sense of the Kippax - or even the old Main Stand at Maine Road (I used to sit) which still rocked on Derby day.
Thats 'progress' I am told. And as much as I love what's happened to us since the take over (and I honestly am very grateful for the last decade), its all about CFG creating a global content platform. A year without fans, showed them its possible to still sell shirts and football TV subscriptions in Malaysia, so as much as I would like to think otherwise, any new stand will just be about more corporate space and more expensive seats for tourists.
Controversial point, but I have always thought we were a 40,000 or so club of loyal, mad, loud fans - and I am very happy with that. I really don't care how big my stadium is, or how many shirts we sell in Singapore. I would have never have built the South Stand - and it recalls a conversation with the great David Bernstein who told me once that the moment a fan sees an empty Blue seat on telly, they know they can more or less pick and choose what game to go to, and both atmosphere and attendance can be impacted. I think he was right, and that is a big worry with the new extension - but then I am just an old grumpy legacy fan who would rather be watching us play Chesterfield in front of 40,000 loud and proud Blues than Barcelona in front of 60,000 silent tourists.