 He began the 1981–82 season in defence before reverting to forward in January 1982 where he scored five goals and he again scored five in 1982–83.He struggled under Richie Barker's long ball tactics in 1983–84 and he handed in a transfer request but Barker was sacked and replaced by Bill Asprey and so O'Callaghan stayed at Stoke.Under Asprey Stoke staged a relegation survival but in 1984–85 Stoke were awful and well on their way to an embarrassing relegation so O'Callaghan moved on to Oldham Athletic for £30,000 after making 294 appearances for Stoke scoring 47 goals.