That was the question posed in this month’s editorial meeting, but the more I thought about it, the more I felt that, never mind the answer, there was a problem with the question itself.

I don’t think we really know quite what we are demanding in the first place.

There are certainly a few schools of thought.

Can Arsene and success coexist?

Some fans want Arsène out at all costs, even if it doesn’t signal an uptick in fortunes – it’s not so much about improvement as change for change’s sake.

Others want a return to the “glory days” whether that’s with or without Wenger at the helm. For some, it’s mutually exclusive to hit the desired dizzy heights with our enduring manager in charge, while for others it’s simply a case of spending more money and bringing more people in alongside the Frenchman.

And then there’s the question of what we even see as the “glory days” – is it winning League and Cup doubles? Is it going a whole season unbeaten? Or is it mounting a serious challenge in Europe’s premier competition as we’ve only really done once back in 2006.

I was in Barcelona recently and the official Barca club shops were packed with merchandise bearing the slogan “Paris 2006” amongst their list of European successes. I could feel a small part of me die each time I walked past such an establishment, with the shadows of “what if”.

But I digress.

These are all similar questions one way or another, simply different ways of looking at the problem of getting back to the top of the domestic and continental game on a regular basis.

But there are also more philosophical considerations for some too.

Art or science?

Would we rather see fantastic football, the envy of even other clubs who are more successful on paper, or would we rather have a packed trophy cabinet even if it means watching Mourinho style performances?

There’s a reason the Portuguese hasn’t been able tear his attention from our club and our manager, even at the peak of his success.

There are exponents of both styles at the top of the Premier League table at the moment.
Mourinho’s current club, Manchester United, and Chelsea, a club still suffering from his legacy, are highly proficient in snatch and grab results, playing boring but effective defensive football to win often by a single goal, or perhaps two if they can pick up a second on the counter late in the game. Perhaps that should be our blueprint, given our own affinity with a “1-0 to the Arsenal” scoreline.

And then of course there is Manchester City, who tend to annihilate teams in the first half of the season with their high intensity, high pressing game, only to crash and burn in the second half of the year when the fatigue and fixture congestion kicks in.

It’s easy to cast envious eyes at continental clubs like Barcelona, Real Madrid, PSG and Bayern Munich, as they win their respective leagues at a canter and go deep into the Champions League each year. But at Pep Guardiola found out to his cost last season, what works in Spain, France and Germany doesn’t always translate well in the Premier League, where you can play matches with a high intensity for 20 minutes and then coast, or where smaller teams turn up and roll over.

The gap between the top and bottom clubs in the Premier League is so much closer, as we regularly see with results like our loss to Watford, Chelsea’s defeat at the hands of Crystal Palace and United’s demise at Huddersfield. And of course, the mighty Burnley have taken points off all three of Spurs, Liverpool and Chelsea away from home.

No, it will be interesting to see if Guardiola’s side can sustain their levels of performance for longer this year, or indeed if anyone will be close enough for it to matter by the time they do drop their level. Perhaps the Carabao Cup game against Wolves was the first chink in the armour, or maybe it was simply a bad day at the office.

Asking for the world

Truth be told, while there’s an ever-increasing volume of noise on Twitter of people chiming in with their views, I’m not sure we always know what we want for our club as individuals, let alone as a collective.

It used to be we could at least agree that we wanted to smash the living daylights out of Tottenham when they come to town later in November, but there are even those who would now prefer us to lose those type of games to bring about the manager’s fall from grace.

Only once we know what we want, can we hope to hold the club to account to provide it.

For me, I don’t ask my club to deliver glory though I dream of it. I don’t ask them to astound me with beautiful football, although I treasure each and every goal we score, of the sort of quality we were treated to for Giroud’s winner against Red Star Belgrade.

I only ask that we do the best we can, with the resources available to us at boardroom level, and the effort our players are capable of when we get out onto the pitch.

I ask that the club give us enough hope that each time we start a game we feel like we have a chance to win.

I ask that each time we sit down to watch a game, in the stadium, in a bar, or in the comfort of our own homes, that we can do so with anticipation, knowing there is a possibility to witness one of the magical moments that football, and only football, can provide.

And of course, I ask that we smash the living daylights out of Tottenham on November 18th.

Is that really too much to ask?