The plans were in motion before the transfer window had even closed: there would be a protest outside the Emirates Stadium at 7 p.m. sharp on Tuesday. Arsenal's fans were fed up. They finished 12 points behind the Premier League champions last season. Now Arsene Wenger had gone through the entire summer and, uniquely among the top five leagues in Europe, he had not bought a single outfield player. Enough was enough. Out went the rallying cry: #wengerout.
Things were only slightly better at Manchester United. On Sunday evening as the pundits on Sky Sports pored over Louis van Gaal's side's defeat at Swansea, one sentence was repeated: "They have 36 hours to sort this out.