{"id":791703,"date":"2026-02-27T03:51:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T03:51:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/791703\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T03:51:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T03:51:16","slug":"jens-berthel-askou-quizzed-on-celtic-next-manager-link-as-motherwell-boss-makes-hoops-admission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/791703\/","title":{"rendered":"Jens Berthel Askou quizzed on Celtic next manager link as Motherwell boss makes Hoops admission"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Dane is the hot favourite with bookies to become the next manager at Parkhead and has been quizzed on the link<\/p>\n

15:40, 26 Feb 2026Updated 21:37, 26 Feb 2026<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Motherwell manager Jens Berthel Askou <\/p>\n

Motherwell boss Jens Berthel Askou <\/a>has broken his silence on him being linked with the Celtic job after emerging as the bookies\u2019 favourite.<\/p>\n

Askou refused to be drawn on the speculation – with a flood of bets on the Dane to become Wilfried Nancy’s permanent successor<\/a> – though insisted he\u2019s delighted the club are doing well enough to be talked about.<\/p>\n

The Scottish champions are on the look-out for a new gaffer, with Martin O\u2019Neill<\/a> 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\u2019s nothing to do with him.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cI don\u2019t know if it\u2019s disrespectful, but I don\u2019t think it [speculation] is anything you can avoid. It\u2019s not something I need to comment on or anything, it\u2019s something that we cannot stop. There is a little bit of noise and speculation about stuff, but the good thing is that I\u2019m here, I\u2019m really pleased with that.<\/p>\n

\u201cCeltic<\/a>, they have a job to do as well, and that\u2019s why I don\u2019t feel any need to comment on these things. Everyone needs their peace and quiet to finish the season strongly. It\u2019s an environment that we\u2019ve pushed from day one, that we don\u2019t want to get too obsessed or excited or affected by what happens around us. We focus on what we can control.\u201d<\/p>\n

Askou also reckons title talk at Motherwell is \u201cirrelevant\u201d and something he\u2019s keen to avoid, but says social media plays a big part in that, too.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cWe 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe 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.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Motherwell manager Jens Berthel Askou<\/p>\n

“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.\u201d<\/p>\n

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<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Askou said: \u201cIf we keep doing what we\u2019re doing well, there\u2019s a chance that might be the end product of all their efforts this season. Whether that will happen, time will tell, but we\u2019re obviously in a position now where that could be an option.<\/p>\n

\u201cSecuring top six is a fantastic situation to be in and one where we\u2019ve looked each other in the eyes and said \u2018well done\u2019, because to achieve that goal is not something that we can take for granted, as a football club.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt 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\u2019re not going to fight relegation, for another year in this club\u2019s history, and we\u2019ve not been relegated in over 40 years. We\u2019re one of the clubs with the longest spell in the top flight and over that period of time it\u2019s a big achievement.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Dane is the hot favourite with bookies to become the next manager at Parkhead and has been…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":791704,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4100],"tags":[2628,94,213784,79673,78418,1638,79,16,15,179997],"class_list":{"0":"post-791703","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-celtic-fc","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-jens-berthel-askou","11":"tag-martin-oneill","12":"tag-motherwell-fc","13":"tag-scottish-premiership","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom","17":"tag-wilfried-nancy"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116140565264993679","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/791703","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=791703"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/791703\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/791704"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=791703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=791703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=791703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}