Alan Swann's verdict on McCann out and Fergie in at Peterborough United. 'It's really not that much of a shock!'

On the surface the sacking of Grant McCann and the return of Darren Ferguson is bombshell news.

But then should the departure of a manager, and his assistant Cliff Byrne, who has presided over stodgy football and disappointing results really be a surprise? Only if you believed Posh were really in so much financial strife they couldn’t afford to pay them off.

And does the re-appointment of Darren Ferguson for the fourth time qualify as shocking news? Not at London Road. Not when he’s the only manager in the 16-year MacAnthony era to ever deliver tangible success. Ferguson has overseen four Posh promotions, three of them from League One, and Posh have got him back as they feared the chances of success this season were rapidly disappearing. They were probably right.

I was thinking of writing something positive about McCann this week. I was going to find reasons why he should stay. Beyond giving him a fairer crack of the whip and judging him in May, after a full season, as he had reasonably requested, it wasn’t an easy task.

There was the obvious love for the club, honed in a terrific playing stint at London Road, most of it under Ferguson, and the desire to bring success back, but sentiment is as rare as patience in professional football.

McCann has helped Kwame Poku develop into a strong League One player. Harrison Burrows briefly threatened to do the same when he was finally given a free rein in midfield.

But others have gone backwards this season. Frankie Kent and Ronnie Edwards defended better for McCann in the Championship than they have in League One. Nathan Thompson has looked a shadow of his former self, although injuries and personal issues haven’t helped the veteran defender either.

It was hoped McCann would return for a second spell at London Road as an improved manager. After all he pipped Ferguson’s Posh to a League One play-off place when at Doncaster Rovers and he’d led Hull City to the League One title, again just pipping a Posh team led by his now successor. Ferguson has no league titles on his CV.

But what worked at Hull in the third tier didn’t work at Posh. For too long McCann was wedded to a system that suited Keane Lewis-Potter, Mallik Wilks and George Honeyman, but he didn’t have players of that quality in those positions at this club.

McCann did have Jack Marriott and Jonson Clarke-Harris who should have been good for 20 goals apiece at this level, but the former was left to suffer on the substitutes’ bench because of a formation that only allowed for one central striker. It will be interesting to see if Ferguson reverses the decision to let the 28 year-old Golden Boot winner leave London Road.

McCann did a solid job for the club in the Championship. No blame can be attached to him for the relegation. He performed better than Ferguson had in the second tier, but 11 wins and 11 defeats in 24 League One games was a rank disappoinment.

It was soon apparent this season that the problems that plagued Posh in McCann’s first stint as manager were still present. The poor use of substitutions, the misguided post-match comments and unexciting football were evident, but Posh were also hopelessly fragile, mentally and physically as shown by terrible away form and the habit of conceding goals in quick succession.

MacAnthony was present at the capitulation against Wycombe on New Year’s Day. On the evidence of that game only one of those teams was going to reach the play-offs. On balance he was right to pull the trigger.

Arguably Ferguson’s return is more of a gamble. He looked shot when he quit after the crucial defeat at Derby in a relegation battle last February.

But he’s defied the maxim about never going back in the past and he will be refreshed after 11 months without stress and pressure. A short-term contract will concentrate his mind on the job in hand, namely finishing in the top six.

There are players at the club who have performed well for him the past. One assumes Jack Taylor, Kent, Clarke-Harris, Joe Ward, Edwards, Dan Butler and Thompson, while naturally sad to see McCann depart, won’t be unhappy with his replacement, although one or two made cutting remarks when Ferguson left last time.

League One is Ferguson’s domain. He’s conquered it three times before. One suspects, given the size of the clubs above Posh and their spending power, plus taking over a squad struggling for confidence, a fourth promotion would be the biggest achievement of them all.