According to received football wisdom, the English first division is the hardest to escape from, at least through the top exit. In which case, Dave Bassett's nickname of Harry must be in recognition of his Houdini-style qualities, since he has picked the lock so many times that rivals must suspect that he is in possession of a set of skeleton keys.
The rich owners of clubs such as Wolves, Birmingham and Blackburn Rovers have thrown resources, money and managers at the problem and remain frustrated. Yet on budgets that never made it to shoestring level, Bassett has brought up Wimbledon, Sheffield United and Nottingham Forest, twice doing it at the first attempt and in a slothful two seasons with the Dons.
Today he hopes to conclude his first season at Barnsley by beating Ipswich at Wembley and returning them to the Premiership to register a record eighth promotion.
Perhaps those chairmen should long ago have sent up the cry: "Bring me Harry Bassett." But the man himself admits that his alchemy does not come in a form that he could bottle.
"Just as everyone is looking for the elixir of life, so in football I suppose they're all looking for the formula for success," he says. "Some people probably think I've got an Aladdin's lamp which I rub at the start of the season and I wish I had. But if there is a key to it, I would say that it is in creating the right atmosphere for success at a club.
"It is something from within me which helps me to create that atmosphere. I have had that at all my clubs, even though I've had sets of players with different personalities and I've played different systems."
If Barnsley make it this afternoon, Bassett is under no illusions about what awaits the club in the Premiership: a season-long battle against relegation, although sometimes, he says, players can surprise you. Wimbledon, long odds-on to go down when they came up in 1986, finished sixth that season and survived another 13 years.
He may get half a shoelace to strengthen Barnsley in the summer but if they are back in the Premiership, one can be certain of one thing. They will not be going to Old Trafford, Highbury and Anfield as tourists this time. They will, says Bassett euphemistically, be approaching it slightly differently.
Probable teams
Ipswich Town (3-5-2): Wright; Brown, Mowbray, Venus; Croft, Magilton, Holland, Scowcroft, Clapham; Johnson, Stewart.
Barnsley (3-4-1-2): Miller; Morgan, Chettle, Brown; Eaden, Appleby, Tinkler, Barnard; Hignett; Dyer, Shipperley.
