SO WILL it be third time lucky for Stuart McCall?

They say never go back but he clearly never got the memo.

But then McCall and Bradford City are forever intertwined, ever since the day he caught the eye of Bryan Edwards playing for Farsley against the club’s juniors.

Four decades on and he is about to start his fifth different spell at Valley Parade - and third in the hot-seat.

A City legend in the truest sense but one clearly not back just for the sentiment.

Read more: 'I was desperate to return' - McCall on being back at City

When McCall’s first managerial role ended in February 2010, he walked away a despondent figure. He felt he had let his club down by failing to deliver promotion.

When Edin Rahic pulled the plug virtually two years ago today, McCall’s reaction was very different.

A battle-hardened gaffer by that point, he walked out the door “with head held high”.

A run of six straight defeats saw the axe fall from a chairman jealous of a tight link between McCall and the fans that he could only dream of.

But, as the truth began to emerge about the oppressive regime that McCall, Kenny Black and the staff had to work under, and what would follow, the scale of their achievements were properly appreciated.

For 18 months, City were a fixture in the League One play-off places.

But for a Jordan Archer fingertip save from Billy Clarke and a marginal onside/offside call over the goal, his side might have pipped Millwall to a Championship ticket in 2017.

Most of his spell in charge was spent punching above their weight; hindered, not helped, along the way by what went above him.

McCall joked when he left that he deserved the sack for the last month – but he’d earned a medal for the previous 17.

There will certainly be no meddling this time around. He returns as manager, not head coach, his role clearly defined and not a fuzzy version working at the constant whim of someone who claimed to “know” football.

Some will inevitably accuse City of going for the obvious option; one designed to shift season-tickets with sales so understandably sluggish given the dismal fare on offer.

Yes, it will certainly boost interest once more. Look at the buzz on social media since the news broke.

Suddenly attending Valley Parade will be a joy again rather than the chore that it had become for so long. Wait for the roar when McCall walks along the touchline for his opening game against Grimsby on Saturday.

But this is a manager who had a 45 per cent win rate last time despite all the club politics that tried to undermine him.

To say that he failed in any way last term is just wrong.

McCall first mentioned “unfinished business” when he returned for the second time as a player and went on to lead City into the Premier League.

But he is back once again at Valley Parade with a genuine desire to show what he can do as a manager with the shackles off.

Stefan Rupp may still own the club but McCall is happy to settle their differences and accept that this is a different scenario. He will be his own boss this time, just as it should be.