“I’ve been there, and the good thing about this squad is that it’s not the Premier League squad that went down and out, and has to learn about life in the Championship. That’s one reason I came here - 80 per cent of our players have played 50, 100, or 200 games in the Premier League but 50 games in the Championship a couple of seasons ago, and you can’t buy that.

“It’s great experience. They know what it means to go to Stoke or Preston and that’s why we have potential. But so do five, six, seven sides.”

He made the point that he had hardly joined a club in disarray, suggesting the only thing that Edwards’ team was missing was the belief that comes with winning.

“Rob left me a good squad,” he said. “The squad isn’t disorientated or disillusioned, it’s not unfit or anything. The majority of managers are good and leave you a good team - maybe if they are losing they don’t have confidence.

“It’s a squad with patterns, a balanced squad in which you can use any system you want. With injuries we have to play a specific way but when they are all fit this is a well-balanced squad with quality, energy and experience but also with youthfulness that is not afraid of taking risks.”

Sarr bagged a cute opening goal, ghosting on to Hassane Kamara’s cross to deftly head past Joe Bursik, although Stoke boss Alex Neil rightly pointed out that the Watford man should have been flagged offside.

With the 16 full-time Watford managers who have preceded Bilic in the past ten years lasting for an average of ten defeats, it was exactly the kind of luck that the former West Ham United boss needs.

Bilic, the 17th manager of the Pozzo era, enjoyed a victory in his first match in charge

ALAMY

Stoke slowly dissolved into a stodgy mess, making a mockery of Bilic’s claim that his side had beaten “a team in form, going up with Alex Neil”, but that should not detract from the way Watford eased away with the game.

Sarr headed against the post, and Ken Sema’s shot was turned onto the same post by goalkeeper Bursik, otherwise the visitors would have been out of sight by half-time.

With the defence coping comfortably with Stoke’s poor efforts, Sarr and Co stepped on the gas to run away with it.

The Senegal international, whose absence through injury for most of this season did Edwards no favours, created the confusion for the second goal, athletically getting a toe to Hamza Choudhury’s pass to force a parry from Bursik, with Sema forcing it past Ben Wilmot’s attempted blocks at the second go.

Keinan Davis fired in the third after breezing past Wilmot on the Watford left, and as Stoke abysmally failed to defend a short-corner routine, substitute Imran Louza, whose return from injury is another huge bonus for Bilic, crossed to the far post for Vakoun Bayo to complete the rout.

Stoke City (3-1-4-2): J Bursik 7 - B Wilmot 6, A Flint 4, M Fox 4 - J Laurent 4 - T Fosu 6, W Smallbone 5, L Baker 4, D Sterling 6 (H Clarke 77, 6) - L Delap 6, D Gayle 5 (T Campbell 72, 6). Booked: Fosu, Delap

Watford (4-3-3): D Bachmann 6 - M Gaspar 6, C Kabasele 6, F Sierralta 6, H Kamara 8 - H Choudhury 6, E Kayembe 7, K Sema 7 (J Hungbo 86, 6) - I Sarr 9 (V Bayo 81, 6), Y Asprilla 6 (I Louza 59, 6), K Davis 7 (D Gosling 87, 6). Booked: Bachmann, Asprilla, Sierralta, Choudhury, Sema

Referee: J Smith