'Shout out to my ex' - why clubs are turning to former bosses

It's not just long throw-ins and going direct from the goalkeeper that have regained popularity in English football this season.

From an absence of a whopping 23 years to one of just 89 days - and plenty in between - reappointing former managers is in vogue across the top four tiers.

Of the seven clubs to change boss this season, three have brought back someone who had previously been in their dugout.

In total, at time of writing on 15 October, 11 of the 92 Premier League or Football League teams are managed by someone in their second (or more) spell at the helm.

With two of them, Sheffield United and Watford, facing one another this weekend, BBC Sport looks at the pull of the ex.

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss

So, why go back? For some it's a case of heart over head.

Steve Cotterill returned to hometown club Cheltenham Town after 23 years last month.

The 61-year-old, who led the club into the Football League in 1999 and returned with them bottom of League Two, said the Robins "will always be in my heart".

"I would know most weeks within an hour of the game ending, wherever I've been, how have Cheltenham got on, who's their team - that hasn't ever left me," he told BBC Radio Gloucestershire.

"When I'm not working, I've been down to watch games."

If Cotterill's return after more than two decades away evokes the feeling of a fairytale, then Chris Wilder's third coming at Sheffield United feels more like the correcting of a mistake.

Wilder led his hometown club from League One into the Premier League in his first spell between 2016 and 21 and then guided them to 90 points and the Championship play-off final last season in his second stint.

He was then surprisingly sacked and replaced by Ruben Selles in June, only for the Spaniard to lose all six of his games in charge and Wilder to be brought back in September.

When asked by BBC Radio Sheffield if he would have said 'no' if it had been "any other football club", he said: "Possibly yeah. This is a special and unique club for me."

The Blades welcome Watford on Saturday, with the Hornets back under the management of Javi Gracia for the first time since he replaced Paulo Pezzolano last week.

The Spaniard had, by Watford standards, a long spell in charge from January 2018 to September 2019 in his first time in the hottest seat in English football.

Familiarity breeds... content?

Jobi McAnuff made more than 700 appearances across his lengthy playing career and believes many re-appointments are based on the hope of rekindling an old spark.

"I think particularly when managers have done well and had success... We talk a lot about the unknown and there's a fear of that," the former Reading and Watford midfielder said on the BBC's EFL podcast 72+.

"There's a lot of positivity about Gracia and Wilder going back.

"I suppose it's that familiarity, bit of confidence in someone who has done a good job beforehand and maybe getting the fans onside."

Former Huddersfield and Middlesbrough full-back Tommy Smith pointed to the recent situation at Sheffield United of a case where clubs sack a manager believing the "grass can be greener".

"I think sometimes it's a case of not knowing what you've got until it's gone," Smith said.

"Certainly in the Sheffield United case they tried to go down a different route with Selles and it didn't work out.

"Sometimes managers go back to clubs in the hope they can pick up where they left off."

The gaffers replaying the hits

If you're getting invited back, then odds are you made a decent impression first time around.

Struggling at the bottom end of the Premier League, Everton turned to David Moyes in January, almost 12 years after he left Goodison for Manchester United.

Moyes had taken Everton into the Champions League in his initial 10-year spell on Merseyside and led them to safety with something to spare last season, while they have made a solid start this time around.

Grant McCann took Doncaster Rovers into the League One play-offs in his first spell and then, having returned in May 2023 after four years away, won the League Two title.

Paul Cook led Chesterfield from League Two into the League One play-offs in his first stint and then guided them to the National League title after returning in February 2022, while Darrell Clarke took Bristol Rovers from the fifth tier to the third in his first spell.

Scott Lindsey steered Crawley to a surprise promotion to League One in May 2024, left for MK Dons in September and was then back with the Red Devils by March of this year as they dropped back down.

Neil Harris' first spell at Cambridge was short and sweet, leaving after just 14 matches to have a second go (yep, another return) as Millwall boss in February 2024.

Almost exactly one year on he was out at the Lions and back in at the Abbey, albeit, like Lindsey, he could not keep them from dropping down from League One last season.

Revell's radical return

Alex Revell's return at Stevenage is proof that sometimes sequels are better than the original.

He was appointed Boro boss in February 2020 but sacked in November 2021 after a difficult 21 months in League Two.

The former striker came back on to the club's coaching staff under Steve Evans - and when Evans left to return to Rotherham in May 2024, Revell was given another shot at the main gig.

After a steady 14th-placed finish last season, Stevenage lead the way in League One after 10 games, as they aim to achieve a first-ever promotion to the second tier.

"Going back, you want to show people what you've got," McAnuff said.

"Alex Revell had a tough time first time around, went away and came back in a different capacity and learned the ropes and now he's absolutely flying."

Curtain coming down on Ferguson's fourth act?

From the top of League One we go down to the bottom and a man in his FOURTH spell in charge of a team... for now anyway.

Darren Ferguson first took over at Peterborough in January 2007 and spearheaded them to back-to-back promotions to the Championship.

He left for Preston in November 2009 but returned to Cambridgeshire in January 2011 and again took them back up to the second tier in his second spell.

After the best part of three years at Doncaster he came back for a third go in 2019 and, you guessed it, guided them to promotion from League One again.

The son of legendary Manchester United boss Sir Alex then resigned in February 2022 only to return AGAIN a year later with the club back in the third tier.

Despite two play-off finishes and two EFL Trophy triumphs, his fourth spell has been more of a struggle and chairman Darragh MacAnthony said last week that results needed to improve with the side bottom of League One.

"I had an honest conversation with my manager and said 'look, I need to know, have you got this?'" MacAnthony said.

"You love this football club, I'm not saying I'm firing you but I need you to talk to me and his response was 'we're there, you'll see it, we will win games now, we're ready'."

If Posh were to part ways with 53-year-old Ferguson, you do feel it would only be a matter of time before he was back again.

Fifth time's the charm?