The Dane is the hot favourite with bookies to become the next manager at Parkhead and has been quizzed on the link
15:40, 26 Feb 2026Updated 21:37, 26 Feb 2026
Motherwell manager Jens Berthel Askou
Motherwell boss Jens Berthel Askou has broken his silence on him being linked with the Celtic job after emerging as the bookies’ favourite.
Askou refused to be drawn on the speculation – with a flood of bets on the Dane to become Wilfried Nancy’s permanent successor – though insisted he’s delighted the club are doing well enough to be talked about.
The Scottish champions are on the look-out for a new gaffer, with Martin O’Neill in temporary charge, and fans are looking at the Fir Park club, who sit fourth, just four points behind Celtic in the Premiership table. But Askou says that’s nothing to do with him.
He said: “I don’t know if it’s disrespectful, but I don’t think it [speculation] is anything you can avoid. It’s not something I need to comment on or anything, it’s something that we cannot stop. There is a little bit of noise and speculation about stuff, but the good thing is that I’m here, I’m really pleased with that.
“Celtic, they have a job to do as well, and that’s why I don’t feel any need to comment on these things. Everyone needs their peace and quiet to finish the season strongly. It’s an environment that we’ve pushed from day one, that we don’t want to get too obsessed or excited or affected by what happens around us. We focus on what we can control.”
Askou also reckons title talk at Motherwell is “irrelevant” and something he’s keen to avoid, but says social media plays a big part in that, too.
He said: “We are getting more and more questions asked, questions that are a little bit or are completely irrelevant to where we are right now, and it is a world of social media, where they are tangled in a big web of comments and information and opinions coming their way.
“We try to take the positivity, the good things and the optimism out of it and just let that surround us, like a good, warm blanket.
Motherwell manager Jens Berthel Askou
“They are a very grounded group of players, we have some experienced guys who are just really good in terms of dealing with emotions that are coming from all sorts of places. It oozes from them, the calmness, and it rubs off to everyone.”
Fourth place or higher in the Premiership brings with it European football, a situation that changes after next season, and Askou hopes that is reward for their efforts, having secured a top-six finish in midweek, as rivals Dundee United and Aberdeen drew.
Askou said: “If we keep doing what we’re doing well, there’s a chance that might be the end product of all their efforts this season. Whether that will happen, time will tell, but we’re obviously in a position now where that could be an option.
“Securing top six is a fantastic situation to be in and one where we’ve looked each other in the eyes and said ‘well done’, because to achieve that goal is not something that we can take for granted, as a football club.
“It has been a few years since it happened the last time [2021-22] and it obviously puts us in a situation where we know that no matter what happens, we’re not going to fight relegation, for another year in this club’s history, and we’ve not been relegated in over 40 years. We’re one of the clubs with the longest spell in the top flight and over that period of time it’s a big achievement.”