Stoke City enjoyed a perfect start under Michael O'Neill as they beat Barnsley 4-2 and moved off the bottom of the Championship as a result.

The 50-year-old was named as Nathan Jones successor on Friday and had an instant impact on the Potters.

However, O'Neill is combining his role as the Stoke boss by staying in charge of Northern Ireland, so his attention has quickly switched to their important Euro 2020 qualifiers against Holland and Germany in the next week.

And, the Daily Mail revealed that he will stay in charge if they qualify for the major tournament next summer.

Here we look at THREE reasons why that update should concern Stoke fans...

He could lose focus

I expect fans to dismiss this and O'Neill would of course deny that he would lose focus but managing at a major international tournament has to be the pinnacle of your career, so surely it has to be a distraction?

It would be human nature for him, and players playing in the competition, to be thinking about that as the season progresses.

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It may impact transfer plans

As well as that, it certainly will impact the Potters transfer plans. Firstly, in terms of identifying and scouting players, O'Neill will not be about.

Whilst he will trust other members of staff when it comes to judging a player, someone Stoke are interested in may want to speak to the manager before deciding on a move and that may not be able to happen whilst he's with Northern Ireland.

It could seriously enhance his reputation

Finally, it could prompt interest further up in the manager.

If O'Neill keeps Stoke up, his stock will be high and that will increase significantly if he can lead Northern Ireland to a quarter-final or a big win on a huge stage.

Then, Stoke may have a battle just to keep him at the club.