David Moyes's problems at Manchester United have intensified after it emerged supporters are planning to send a plane over Old Trafford during their game against Aston Villa on Saturday pulling a banner calling for him to be sacked.

Arrangements are being made for the plane to carry a message “Wrong One - Moyes Out” as a response to the “Chosen One” banner that has hung inside the stadium since the former Everton manager was appointed as Alex Ferguson’s successor.

If it goes ahead, the stunt will be the first concerted effort by fans to remove Moyes from his position in a season that has seen the runaway champions last year slump to seventh, 18 points off the top and guaranteed their worst-ever return in the Premier League era.

While United maintain that they remain fully supportive of Moyes, the 3-0 defeat at home to Manchester City on Tuesday finished with isolated incidents inside the ground, including a steward having to usher one fan away from the dugout area. Ferguson, sitting in the directors’ box, was also abused, having identified Moyes for the job, and it is clear that whatever support there was for Moyes is slowly draining away.

Supporters have clubbed together through the Red Issue website to raise almost £1,000 for the planned flyover while Moyes’s first season in charge has been so ignominious the usually supportive Manchester Evening News has taken to lampooning him, running an “excuses generator” from his nine months in office.