Those decisions – including a major overhaul of the squad with 11 new signings – have added a sharper edge and more creativity to an already industrious core.

And it has paid off.

“Mark Robins walked into Stoke like a troubleshooting head teacher walks into a school in special measures,” BBC Radio Stoke’s Potters commentator Mark Elliott said.

“He steadied the ship and displayed a decisiveness and relentless competency that is rarely seen in a division where insanity rules.”

Elliott said Robins’ reshaping of the squad created “an identity that prioritises work rate, solidity, character and togetherness”.

“Robins always feels like the adult in the room, leading,” he said.

“His determination to get Stoke back to the top table of English football and prove himself among the game’s elite in the process could not be clearer.”

Eight wins and only three defeats so far. Eight goals in their past two games showed the Potters can bang them in with the best of them.

The defence – the meanest in the EFL – has only conceded nine times.

Robins’ Championship win rate now stands at 40%, the highest of the seven permanent managers that have tried to resuscitate this grand old club back to the Premier League since they were relegated from the top flight under Paul Lambert in 2017-18.

Better than Stephen Schumacher (38%), Michael O’Neill (37%), Gary Rowett (31%), Alex Neil (30%), Pelach (16%), and Nathan Jones (14%).