STOKED UP

O’Neill is giving stability to the precarious Potters

NEW BROOM: O’Neill has changed the Stoke mindset

MICHAEL O’NEILL is no DIY expert, but he has removed the revolving door to the Stoke manager’s office.

As he approaches a year in charge at the bet365 Stadium, he has already outlasted predecessors Nathan Jones, Gary Rowett and Paul Lambert.

He has succeeded where they failed in stabilising Stoke, who are looking up not down for the first time in three years.

Mid- table ahead of today’s clash against Luton and former Stoke boss Jones, they are through to a Carabao Cup quarter- final and have kept six clean sheets in eight games. O’Neill has changed much at Stoke, starting with the club’s mindset. He said: “When you come out of the Premier League, and you’ve been in it for 10 years as Stoke were, there’s the thinking, ‘ We’re a Premier League club’.

“But we’re in our third season in the Championship, so we have to become a very good Championship club then aspire to become a Premier League club again.”

O’Neill, 51, inherited a mess. Stoke’s squad was bloated and demoralised after a succession of bad buys.

He has sanctioned the exits of expensive flops Giannelli Imbula, Benik Afobe, Badou Ndiaye, Peter Etebo – all but Imbula on loan – and rebuilt the team around young players.

His two buys, Jacob Brown and Jordan Thompson, cost a fraction of the transfer fees Stoke used to shell out. Welsh goalkeeer Adam Davies has replaced Jack Butland and the unified dressing room has a British and Irish heart again.

The former Northern Ireland manager said: “There were a number of disgruntled players for whom it had not worked out.

“It’s been a case of trying to get a group of players together and focus on trying to change the league position of the club.

“We also want to put some value back into the squad.”

O’Neill is focused on leading Stoke back to the Premier League and had no regrets of leaving Northern Ireland.

He said: “When I stepped away, I knew it was the right time. I’ve got good owners who want to get the club back to the Premier League.”