Oldham Athletic moved swiftly to appoint John Sheridan as manager, confirmation coming only 24 hours after David Dunn’s sacking.
And it marked an emotional return for fans’ favourite Sheridan who was player, coach and manager between 1998/2009.
Sheridan has the enormous challenge of staving off the threat of relegation from Sky Bet League One as they are five points adrift of safety.
But in view of the success he enjoyed with Latics first-time round as manager between 2006/09 and subsequently at Chesterfield, Plymouth Argyle and Newport County, the 51-year-old certainly has a proven record.
It has certainly been a dramatic week at Latics when the departure of Dunn, assistant manager Dean Holden and first-team coach Keith Brown was announced late on Tuesday afternoon. Dunn won only two of 17 league games in charge picking up only 12 points.
And not long afterwards, a photo emerged on social media of Latics’ chairman Simon Corney and director Anthony Gee deep in discussion with Sheridan at a Costa coffee shop.
It was late on Tuesday that Newport issued a statement that they had received a formal approach from Latics to speak to Sheridan who only became their manager in October.
And by Wednesday tea-time Sheridan had been unveiled as their fifth manager in less than 12 months following Lee Johnson who left by choice, Holden, Darren Kelly and Dunn who was in charge only 122 days winning only three of 20 games in all competitions.
Mr Corney spoke of his delight at capturing Sheridan said: “John has always been high up on my list whenever we have appointed managers. If you look at his record, he got us into the play-offs when he was here and he has won the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy and promotion with Chesterfield, plus he took Plymouth into the play-offs last season.
“Wherever he has been he has done really well. It was time to make a change and we feel we’ve got the right man here to make a difference, get the crowd going, get the players going and keep us in League One.
“I would also like to take this opportunity to add my thanks to Newport County who have dealt with this situation in a professional manner.”
Sheridan is also happy to be back declaring: “Everyone knows how much I love this club. I was here for a long time as both a player and a manager so I’m really chuffed and excited to be back. I feel like I’ve got unfinished business from last time and I’m looking forward to the challenge. It’s a big one, but I’m really excited about it.
“As soon as the opportunity came, I wanted to get back involved and manage Oldham. I feel one of my strengths is getting teams that are struggling out of the positions they are in.
“We have some good players here, but we just need to win games, and that’s what it’s all about. I’m expecting us to get the results we are after and to climb the table.”
It will be a baptism of fire for Sheridan as four of his first five games are away from home, starting with Saturday’s visit to Bradford City.