At our place (NW England Cat D Regional Airfield), anyone VFR inbound who is approaching from an upwind position joins "downwind", anyone approaching from a downmind position joins on "base leg".
Eg Westerly Ops 27 in use wind 300/10 (both left and right ccts always available - no deadside).
Join the CTR NW of the field - join right downwind
Join the CTR SE of the field - join left base.
Join the CTR E of the field - route north of the 27 final approach (follow the M62 in this case) until abeam base leg and then turn left to join right base.
Works very well, pass the relevant traffic info to all concerned and let them get on with it.
I personally would not want inbound traffic fly against the flow and trying to find a gap to turn back in, recipie for disaster if you ask me....