Fury swept through Saudi fans over the past few hours, barely a day after they celebrated being crowned champions of the 27th edition of the Arabian Gulf Cup, "Gulf 27".
Saudi Arabia lifted the Arabian Gulf Cup on Tuesday after beating the UAE 2-0 in the final, played at the Al-Inma Stadium in Jeddah.
Roughly 24 hours after that triumph, press reports claimed the Saudi Arabian Football Federation had agreed terms with Spanish coach Roberto Martinez to lead the national team at the 2027 AFC Asian Cup.
Those reports lit the fuse. Fans wanted Greek coach Georgios Donis to stay on as head coach after his success at Gulf 27, and they said so loudly.
Martinez became the target too. Supporters raged at the mere mention of his name, pointing to what they called his failure in every job, above all his most recent spell with Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal.
Saudi media figure Waleed Al-Farraj, presenter of "Rotana Sport with Waleed" on the "Rotana Khalijia" channel, was first to voice his objection, insisting Donis is the right coach for Saudi Arabia right now.
Al-Farraj wrote on his personal account on "X": "Donis succeeded because he is the right coach for the players' capabilities".
He added: "Any attempt to go back to renewing the world-class coach syndrome for the Saudi national team and to make a change to the technical management 3 months before the Asian Cup is a sign that the success of the Gulf tournament was a coincidence".
His verdict was blunt: "Spare us the inventions, carry on as you are".
Nasser Al-Jedai struck a similar note: "Donis as a coach is not as famous as (Roberto) Mancini, nor does he have the abilities of (Pep) Guardiola, nor the cunning of (Jurgen) Klopp. But he is now, at least, more suitable than all of them to lead the Saudi national team in the coming period".
He went on: "So how about replacing him with someone far inferior to those men, and talk of changing him, if true, means we have not learned from past lessons, and that the official is still looking for the (most famous) and (flashiest) coach, not the (most suitable) coach".
Ahmed Al-Shaikhi did not hide his frustration: "Confusion, confusion, confusion. There are 3 months left until the Asian Cup, and the news of Donis's sacking disheartened us greatly, so how about if the sacking actually happens".
He added: "A coach who knows the players by heart, and the replacement is Martinez. This step, if it happens, reminds me of the sacking of Calderon when we reached the 2006 World Cup without a loss".
A fan named Mohammed went further: "23 years of failure, and millions for world-class coaches, 90 and 50 million euros, and the result is zero, and mockery and ridicule of our players and our level".
He continued: "Donis came and won the title with what was available, took on the best team and claimed its awards, without a loss, and did not concede a single goal".
His parting shot: "And despite that, you agreed with a world-class coach who failed with teams full of stars".