Mick Kennedy has backed the motherwell manager Jens Berthel Askou for the Celtic job after spending a full day with him and seeing his methods up close. The East Kilbride manager said Celtic would be daft not to move for Askou, adding fresh outside support to a name already among the frontrunners for the post.
Kennedy’s Celtic verdict
Kennedy did not soften the message. “I think everybody hears murmurs and rumours. Askou would be an unbelievable appointment,” he said on the STV Radio Football Show. He went further, saying: “If it was me picking the next Celtic manager, I would give it to Jens. Just simply because he’s done so well this year, he knows the country, knows the standard, knows the league.”
That endorsement matters because Kennedy was not speaking in the abstract. He and his assistant manager Si Ferry spent the day with Askou after they played Motherwell B one night, then watched him work before moving into a longer conversation about how he runs things. Kennedy said Askou invited them in and let them stay for the full day.
Inside Askou’s methods
The detail that stood out most for Kennedy was the level of preparation. “He’s got something about him. He’s got an aura about him. He’s unbelievable. He let us in for the full day, his attention to detail is unbelievable,” he said. He added that, in this country, Askou is “probably the only person who works at that level in terms of detail.”
Kennedy also drew a line to John McGlynn, saying: “John McGlynn’s very similar in terms of tactics, analytics, set-up, preparation… it's frightening, his level of detail.” The comparison puts Askou in a specific coaching bracket rather than treating him as a generic candidate. For Celtic, that sort of endorsement from another manager comes with first-hand evidence attached.
Motherwell and Celtic pressure
Askou has been thoroughly impressive in his first season in the Scottish game and is on the verge of leading Motherwell to European football. Kennedy said he would give him the Celtic manager job, calling him a fantastic appointment and saying he knows the country, the standard and the league.
The timing also adds weight. Martin O’Neill is looking set to retire again after his second interim spell, while Askou is among the bookmakers’ frontrunners for the role. That leaves Celtic weighing a candidate with league knowledge, a growing reputation and a public endorsement from a manager who spent a full day inside his set-up.
