“DON’T expect miracles!” urged one cautious Cherries supporter after news of Eddie Howe’s return had broken.

Just days earlier, some fans had questioned whether the club’s former manager would even contemplate coming back.

“Is it April Fool’s Day?” asked one poster to the Daily Echo website after we had exclusively revealed Howe had agreed to replace Paul Groves.

“This would be absolutely brilliant if true but sadly I think this is a dream world,” said another, while those who had the temerity to believe the story were labelled “halfwits” by one ill-informed wag.

A Burnley follower offering his two-penneth insisted Howe would never return “in a month of Sundays” and advised the Dean Court faithful to “give your collective heads a wobble”.

And Cherries chairman Eddie Mitchell was accused of trying to use Howe as a PR stunt to help ease the heat on him following what had been a disastrous few months under Groves and Shaun Brooks.

The reality finally dawned once Howe and Jason Tindall had been unveiled to the crowd ahead of Cherries’ League One encounter with Leyton Orient in October 2012.

Thrown together almost by default on New Year’s Eve 2008, Howe and his former Cherries team-mate Tindall were handed the unenviable task of trying to preserve the club’s Football League status.

Seven points adrift of safety in League Two and against a backdrop of continuing financial uncertainty, the pair worked the oracle to mastermind what became known as the Greatest Escape.

As if staving off the threat of relegation, which could possibly have led to the extinction of the club, was not enough, Howe and Tindall followed up by plotting promotion just 12 months later.

And having guided Cherries into the League One play-off places, the club was unable to continue to keep suitors at bay and their managerial acumen eventually earned them a move to Burnley.

While rookie Lee Bradbury just about managed to steer Cherries into the play-offs, an exodus of players following the club’s failure to win promotion saw the squad dismantled. Once Bradbury had parted company, Groves and Brooks were tasked with trying to resurrect the club’s fortunes, a challenge which proved way beyond their limited managerial experience.

Cometh the hour, cometh Howe and Tindall.

Their return, which had seemed a fanciful notion at one stage, raised intriguing issues about the wisdom of trying to recapture past glories. Howe and Tindall were always going to be welcomed home with open arms but their comeback was a risk.

Fourth bottom in League One with 11 points from eight games, only a bizarre chain of events at Brentford on the final day of the season prevented Cherries going up as champions.

Bury, Hartlepool and Scunthorpe, the three teams below them when Howe and Tindall came back, all went down in 2013, while Cherries were the only promoted team to retain their Championship status last season.

Looking back over his two years in the hot seat, Howe told the Daily Echo: “It has been such an enjoyable time and it doesn’t seem two years since we came back. It has flown by, especially the past 12 months.

“There were never any guarantees we were going to get promotion from League One. The team wasn’t in great shape when we came back and it was always going to take a big effort from everyone to get us in a position to challenge.

“The work ethic, attitude and commitment from the players saw us through. There were ups and downs but everybody stuck together to achieve a memorable moment in the club’s history.

“We have managed to keep the nucleus of the squad together and that has been key. A core group of players have been vital in maintaining and developing standards. ”

Asked where he hoped the club would be in another two years, Howe replied: “That is a very good question!

“We know where we would like to be and we know where we would hope to be but, again, there are no guarantees. We will be giving everything to try to improve ourselves and achieve long-term success.

“The club is in good hands at the top, Maxim Demin and the board are ambitious people. This is mirrored by myself, Jason, the staff and the players. I know the supporters are keen for further success and our challenge is to try to bring that to them.”

Two years on and Cherries supporters have started to believe in miracles.