Michael O'Neill got off to a dream start as Stoke City manager, with his side beating relegation rivals Barnsley 4-2 at Oakwell on Saturday.

The Northern Ireland chief was only named as the Potters boss on Friday but he insisted he wanted to take charge for the trip to Yorkshire and it was a decision that paid off spectacularly.

Two goals from Sam Clucas, a Lee Gregory penalty and one from Joe Allen secured maximum points for Stoke and lifted them off the bottom of the Championship too.

Whilst it was all about the result, the manner of the performance would have delighted the fans and it will give them hope moving forward.

Here we look at THREE things the 50-year-old got right on Saturday...

Picking a balanced team

It might seem odd to praise a manager for picking players to play in their preferred positions but that's where we're at with Stoke right now.

Nathan Jones tried to complicate things too often in the past, with centre-backs and left-back, midfielders at full-back and so on.

On Saturday, O'Neill kept it simple and it paid off with a convincing win.

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Playing with width

Another positive aspect was that the team played with real width. Jones' diamond formation didn't really work, with the side looking poor in attack and when it came to defending.

James McClean isn't the most popular man in Stoke but he was a direct threat down the left and won a penalty, whilst Tom Ince was much-improved down the right. The team looked a lot more dangerous with having two natural wingers.

Demanding a fast start

Arguably the best thing about Stoke was the fearless way they played.

They started quickly and were rewarded with an early goal but they didn't stop there and went two up. At 1-2 there was no panicking either, instead they got back on the front foot and put the game to bed with two more goals.