Steve Kean's coronation as new Blackburn boss turned sour at Ewood Park as goals from Robert Huth and Marc Wilson saw Stoke snap their run of three Barclays Premier League games without a win.
Huth opened the scoring with a powerful 51st-minute header from a Matthew Etherington corner and Wilson wrapped up the points by knocking home the simplest of chances in injury time.
And Kean will know it could have been much worse for his side with Etherington missing an early sitter and Kenwyne Jones forcing a wonder save out of Paul Robinson late on.
For all the new Rovers' owners heady predictions, the defeat made it clear that Kean's more immediate concern is sorting out the future of unsettled stars like defender Christopher Samba.
Rovers looked susceptible to set-pieces all afternoon and Huth grabbed the lead by darting ahead of the static Mame Biram Diouf to power home Etherington's corner.
It was rich reward for Tony Pulis' men who looked the better side throughout and shaded a dismal first period made memorable only by Etherington's astonishing 14th-minute miss.
Ryan Shawcross rose highest in the box to nod on a Rory Delap long throw and find Etherington, only for the midfielder to tap the ball across the face of goal from point-blank range.
Brett Emerton poked a half-chance wide for Rovers after 20 minutes from a cross from the left by Martin Olsson, who was by far the home side's best player on the flank.
With the bitingly cold weather not helping, both sides struggled to fashion clear-cut openings but the visitors created a couple of opportunities just past the half-hour mark.
First the impressive Jon Walters, back from a bout of 'flu, came close in a scramble before Huth's header in the box from a Jermaine Pennant free-kick was booted clear by Gael Givet.
A poor first half ended with a spate of bookings with Stoke's Andy Wilkinson and Shawcross, and Rovers' Nikola Kalinic all finding themselves yellow-carded for poor challenges.
Huth broke the deadlock with the goal that was impressive for its simplicity, charging in front of the static Diouf to angle Etherington's corner past Robinson.
Rovers belatedly stirred, the busy Givet close to connecting to a Morten Gamst Pedersen free-kick then Diouf heading into Asmir Begovic's hands from an Emerton cross.
But the visitors came close to adding a second in the 64th minute when Delap wriggled clear on the right and sent in a superb cross to Dean Whitehead, whose header was caught by Robinson.
Three minutes later Stoke countered swiftly through Pennant and his cross from the left found Jones, whose close-range header was brilliantly tipped over the crossbar by Robinson.
Jones wriggled through a static Rovers rearguard before being pushed into touch by Robinson as the home fans began to show their frustration with their side's display.
Begovic punched clear under pressure from a Pedersen corner and with time running out Emerton thumped in a long-range effort which was deflected out for another set-piece.
From it, youngster Grant Hanley saw his firm header well saved by the increasingly busy Begovic, then Diouf fumbled a shooting chance in the box after being set up by Michel Salgado.
To compound the agony for Kean, Stoke wrapped up the win in injury time when substitute Ricardo Fuller crossed for Wilson to knock home the simplest of chances.
New Blackburn boss Steve Kean had to endure boos at the final whistle after goals from Robert Huth and Marc Wilson helped end Stoke's run of three Premier League games without a win.
And Kean - given the job until the end of the season this week - said: "We can understand the frustration of the fans and we are just as frustrated in the dressing room. There has been upheaval at the club but I don't want to make excuses because that is not the way I am.
"I was disappointed with the goals we gave away. When you look at the personnel that we don't have available it is difficult to get that balance in the middle. But that is no excuse because the lads put in there understood their roles.''
Kean revealed he has stripped Christopher Samba of the club captaincy after the defender expressed his desire to leave Ewood Park. Samba missed Sunday's game with an ankle injury and Kean said while he would have played if he had not failed a late test, he would not have worn the armband.
"Christopher would have played but he wouldn't have been captain because at the moment he is looking to possibly get away from the club," Kean said. "Until he can come back and say he is happy to stay I think we'll look elsewhere in the club. He would have played but he failed a fitness test today.''
Delighted Stoke boss Tony Pulis hailed his side for the way they responded to their home defeat to Blackpool two weeks ago and bounced back to take the points.
"That defeat was very hard to take and it was important to bounce back and I thought we deserved to win the game today," Pulis said. "I was disappointed it was 0-0 at half-time and I don't know how Matthew Etherington missed his chance. We had a couple of golden opportunities and didn't take them.
"But in the second half we stepped it up a bit. I was really pleased with Robert's goal because our return off set-plays has not been as good as it could have been.''
And Pulis also had words of encouragement for Kenwyne Jones, who has still not scored since his strike against Liverpool last month but who was only denied by a super save by Paul Robinson.
Pulis added: "Kenwyne played very well and led the line. I have no doubt that Kenwyne is going to be fine. He just needs a bit of luck and one to go in off someone else's backside.''
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