Observers at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday night reported that Arsenal supporters watching their side's 2-1 Premier League defeat against Watford emitted an entirely new sound in response to manager Arsene Wenger.
Wenger's 20-year reign at Arsenal has seen its fair share of ups and downs, but a failure to deliver the top-flight trophy since 2004 has seen the French tactician's popularity wane. This has made Wenger – once idolised by Gunners fans – increasingly fractious and birdlike in his relationships with supporters, players and the media.
It was a thoroughly unsettling sound – a kind of throaty mewling
During the latest defeat against Watford, the emotional strain finally told on Arsenal fans.
After a brief chant of: "Oh, Wenger / we have immense and profound respect for you / both as a man and a manager / we praise your vision, integrity and dedication / even when other clubs have greater financial resources / but there's an unsettling sensation / that perhaps you've led us as far as you can take us / we question your decision-making / and a fresh start might be best'"fizzled out, fans instinctively began to make a sound somewhere between a cheer and a boo, directed at Wenger.
"It was a thoroughly unsettling sound – a kind of throaty mewling," one neutral observer told FourFourTwo.
"I guess it would best be described as the whistling of a young otter at play, crossed with a voiceless lateral fricative sound, similar to the 'll' sound in Welsh."
Others have likened the sound to 'an ageing rock star throwing up into a nearly-boiled kettle'.
"It was an ungodly noise and it seemed to take on a life of its own," our observer continued. "Even the fans making the noise seemed shocked by it, but then again everyone's a little surprised when someone breaks the silence at the Emirates."
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