Stoke City have made steady progress under Michael O’Neill this season but the Potters are likely going to have to settle for more of a mid-table finish.

The Potters headed into the season aiming to challenge for a top-six finish if possible, but that was always going to be a tricky task considering they had been fighting relegation for a lot of last term.

O’Neill would have settled for seeing some progression in his players and also for lowering the wage bill of the squad by shifting on a couple of the club’s high earners.

That is what has been able to happen at the Bet365 Stadium and there will be some belief that with another summer transfer window they can perhaps be closer to the top-six next season. To do that they would also need to avoid some of the major injury blows they have suffered to key performers this term.

As O’Neill continues to make progress at Stoke, we have decided to take a look back through the club’s managerial history and rank their top 10 best ever performing bosses (since three points for a win was introduced) in terms of points they accumulated per game. Click ‘next’ to scroll through the list of these ex-Potters managers…

Kicking off this list is none other than Tony Pulis, who has had two spells in charge of the Potters and it is in the first of which that he managed to accumulate 1.31 points per game.

Pulis took over from Steve Cotterill in November 2002, after he had resigned from his post after a difficult start to the 2002/03 campaign. The 63-year-old faced an uphill battle to ensure that the Potters would survive in the second tier, but he was able to keep them up on the final day of the season.

The following season Pulis underlined the improvements he had made with an 11^th placed finish in the second tier. However, the 2004/05 campaign saw his relationship with the Potters’ Icelandic ownership break down over lack of investment on transfers. They eventually ended the campaign in 12^th place in the table on 61 points.

In June 2005, Pulis finally left the club after he had bemoaned the decision made by the club to sell Akinbyi to Burnley. Overall, he did a decent enough job in his first spell, but he would return to perform heroics for them in future years.

Number nine on this is Mark Hughes, who managed to accumulate 1.33 points per game during his time in charge at the Bet365 Stadium.

Hughes was appointed as Stoke’s manager in May 2013 and had the unenviable task of following on from Pulis’s excellent job guiding them to the top-flight and cementing their position there. However, it was felt a change of style was needed around the club to push them on to the next level. The former Wales manager guided his side to an impressive ninth-place finish in his first season.

That was the Potters’ highest league finish since the 1974/75 season, and it was something which Hughes would then repeat in the 2014/15 campaign. Stoke managed to win 15 of their 38 Premier League matches, including the remarkable 6-1 thrashing of Liverpool on the final day of the campaign.

The summer of 2015 saw the club welcome the exciting signing of Xherdan Shaqiri. Things continued to be decent for Hughes as he once again saw his side finish in 9^th place in the 2015/16 campaign above Chelsea. A drop-off followed in the 2016/17 campaign with poor signings catching up with them somewhat and a 13^th place finish followed.

A disastrous 2017/18 campaign ended with them being relegated from the Premier League and Hughes was sacked in January of 2018 after a loss away at Coventry in the FA Cup.

Eighth place on this list is Gary Rowett, whose time in charge of the Potters did not really go the way that everyone was hoping when he arrived. He did though manage to accumulate 1.34 points per game.

Rowett was the man that Stoke turned to in the summer of 2018 as they looked to bounce back straight away from their relegation from the Premier League. The new manager had just missed out on promotion to the top-flight with Derby County the previous campaign having guided them to the play-offs and hopes were high after what seemed a strong summer transfer window.

However, things got off to an awful start for the Potters as the new signings failed to gel and they won just two of their opening ten Championship games. A mild resurgence was to follow as they managed to go on a ten-game unbeaten run. However, with six of those matches ending in draws it did not really move them far enough up the table.

Poor performances and results against Bolton Wanderers and Bristol City saw supporters turn on Rowett and the decision was made to part company with him on 8^th January 2019.

Coming in at number seven on this list is Lou Macari, who like Pulis enjoyed two spells in charge of the Potters. In his second spell in charge he accumulated 1.40 points per game, after winning 57 and drawing 35 of his 122 games.

Macari took over the club in September 1994 with them hoping he could repeat some of the success he enjoyed in his first spell. It was a solid enough first season back at the helm for him with the Potters finishing the 1994/96 season in 11^th place in the second tier having picked up 63 points from their 46 matches.

The second season back in charge for Macari saw him take the Potters to the play-offs after a fourth-place finish and they were only six points adrift of second-placed Derby County. However, in the semi-finals they were beaten by Leicester City and that meant that had to start again from scratch in the summer.

Stoke were playing their final season at Victoria Park in the 1996/97 campaign, but Macari could not get his side challenging for promotion again and they finished in 12^th place. He had announced he would be leaving at the end of the season before being stripped of his duties ahead of schedule by the club.

At sixth place in this list appears Pulis once again. Not many managers get the chance to have two spells in charge at a football club, but the 63-year-old proved to be well worth a second go and he accumulated 1.41 points per game in a very successful spell.

Pulis returned to the club in June 2006 after the Potters decided to part company with Johan Bosskamp after Peter Coates’ take over the club. He managed to guide the Potters to an eight-place finish in the 2006/07 campaign with them just missing out on a place in the play-offs. The following campaign he would take them to automatic promotion on the final day of the season.

Stoke’s 2008/09 campaign was one that saw them defy many doubters following their promotion and they picked up some memorable results along the way to a 12^th place finish. Pulis would guide them to 11^th the next term and also to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup. The 2010/11 campaign saw them qualify for Europe after reaching the final of the FA Cup and losing to Manchester City.

The Potters performed decently in Europe in 2011/12 reaching the Round of 32 in the Europa League while also finishing in 14^th place. However, the next season would be Pulis’ last in charge with the club not really building much progress and finishing in 13^th place in the table. The decision was made in May 2013 to part company with him and take things in a new direction.

Fifth place in this list is current Potters manager Michael O’Neill, with the Northern Irishman having proved to have been a decent appointment by Stoke and he has accumulated 1.44 points per game thus far.

O’Neill arrived at the club in November 2019 with the Potters looking in major trouble of relegation following a disastrous start to last term that saw them part company with Nathan Jones. Things immediately got better on the field with a 4-2 win at Barnsley coming in his first match in charge. By the turn of the year, he had managed to get the club out of the bottom three.

A run of four wins in their final nine matches of last season was enough for the Potters to finish in 15^th place in the table eight points clear of the drop zone. So far this term, O’Neill has made a lot of progress with the performances and results of his side and they are currently on track to secure a top-half finish.

At fourth place on this list is Brian Little, who had just one season in charge of the club during the 1998/99 campaign in which he accumulated 1.5 points per game.

Little was handed the task of leading the club back into the first division after the club were relegated to the third tier of English football in 1997/98. Things got off to something of a dream start for the Potters with them managing to win 14 of their opening 20 league games to pull clear at the top of the division and look destined for promotion.

However, following a draw at home to Gillingham in December, their form somewhat collapsed and they were only able to win another seven of their 26 matches which saw them slide down the table and even out of the play-off places resulting in an eight-place finish on 69 points. Little bemoaned one result in particular as the worst in his career after they lost 2-0 against nine-men Millwall.

A the end of the campaign Little made the decision to step down from his role in charge of the Potters admitting that he had not performed well enough and failing to take the club back to the second tier.

At third in this list is Gary Megson, who had just a short spell in charge of the Potters in which he had performed decently managing to accumulate 1.65 points per game from his 17 league matches in charge.

Megson arrived at Stoke in the summer of 1999 with the task of helping to guide the club to promotion back to the second tier after five successive seasons in the third tier. The Potters lost their two opening league matches of the campaign against Oxford United and Preston North End, before a 3-1 win against Millwall was followed up with a loss against Burnley.

However, Megson soon got to grips with things and managed to get his side on a strong run of form that saw them go ten matches unbeaten between the end of August and the start of November. That run of form got them back into the mix for promotion. However, a takeover of the club would follow in November, who made the decision to bring in their own man in the shape of Gudjon Thordarson.

Overall, Megason won eight, drew four of his 17 league games leaving him with 1.65 points per match.

Currently, Stoke’s second-best manager in terms of points picked up per game is Lou Macari, who in his first spell in charge accumulated 1.69 points per game.

Macari arrived at the club in the summer of 1991 with the Potters having just recorded their lowest ever league finish of 14^th place in the English third tier which had seen the club unsurprisingly part company with manager Alan Ball. The only way was up for the Potters and that is how it proved to be with them making it into the play-offs in the 1991/92 season with a fourth-place finish.

However, Macari’s side were beaten in the play-off semi-finals by Stockport County meaning they had to start again the following campaign. However, before that there would be a chance for some revenge for the Potters with them meeting the same opponents in the final of the Football League Trophy and this time it was Stoke who came out on top with a 1-0 win.

The 1992/93 campaign is one that will always live long in the memory for the Potters, with Macari guiding his side on their longest ever unbeaten run of 25 games on their way to amassing 93 points and securing the third tier title in style. However, Macari would leave the club for Celtic a few months later in October 1993. In the end, he won 57 and drew 35 of his 122 games in charge.

In first place and currently, the club’s best ever performing manager in terms of points picked up per match is Gudjon Thordarson.

Thordarson arrived at Stoke in November 1999 with the club having been going well under Gary Megson in the third tier. However, when new Icelandic owners took over the club the decision was made to hire their own man for the job. Things started well for Thordarson who won his first game in charge 4-0 against Wycombe Wanderers. He also guided the Potters to the 2000 Football League Trophy with a win against Bristol City in the final.

Stoke ended the 1999/2000 season in sixth place, but they were beaten in the play-off semi-finals to Gillingham after a controversial 3-0 second-leg defeat. The following campaign Thordarson was unable to find enough consistency for his side to earn automatic promotion. They did reach the play-offs again finishing in 5^th. However, heartbreak again followed with a loss against Walsall in the semi-finals

The 2001/02 campaign was Thordarson’s final chance to get the Potters out of the third tier. He could not guide them to automatic promotion and they ended up finishing once again in 5^th place. However, this time they beat Cardiff City in a dramatic semi-final before securing promotion with a 2-0 win against Brentford in the final. Despite that though his contract was not renewed in the summer.

Overall, he managed to win 77 and draw 39 of his 154 games in charge, which left him with a record of 1.75 points per match.