Leading next Celtic manager candidate sees chances of landing Parkhead hotseat plummet in major shake-up
The Scandinavian boss has proved a revelation during his first season in Scottish football and has been installed as new favourite to land Celtic job
Celtic will attempt to end what has been a hugely turbulent season with silverware under interim boss Martin O’Neill - but the Parkhead hierarchy will also have one eye on the summer and appointing a new permanent manager.
And there’s a new odds-on favourite to land the Parkhead hot seat with punters now piling in on Motherwell boss Jens Berthel Askou to succeed O’Neill after proving a revelation in his first season in Scottish football.
The Dane has worked wonders at Fir Park since his arrival last summer following the shock exit of Michael Wimmer and the Steelmen are even being considered as outsiders to catch Celtic, Rangers and Hearts in the Premiership title race over the coming months.
Askou, 43, has transformed the North Lanarkshire club into one of the best footballing teams in the top-flight, with their eye-catching style of play and winning mentality drawing plenty of plaudits from rival supporters and pundits alike.
Roberto Martinez no longer favourite to land Celtic job
The currently sit in fourth place and are just 10 points off the summit, with a game in hand over the table-topping Jambos. So it will come as little surprise that Askou is now being strongly linked with the Celtic job, with bet365 installing him at 10/11 favourite to land the post.
Roberto Martinez, who is expected to leave his role as Portugal national team boss after this summer’s World Cup finals, had been the previous favourite to succeed Wilfried Nancy. But the Spaniard now finds himself in second place in the betting after drifting out to 9/4.
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Prior to joining Motherwell, Askou had managed IFK Gothenburg, AC Horsens, HB Torshavn and Vendyssel. He also had a brief spell in England as a player, turning out for Norwich and Millwall.
With Hoops legend O’Neill back at the helm until the end of season, speculation around who will be Celtic manager from next season onwards has taken a back seat.
A season of unrest and turmoil for Celtic began when Brendan Rodgers sensationally quit at the end of October following a poor start to the campaign and gripes over the club’s summer recruitment, with principle shareholder Dermot Desmond publishing a strongly-worded statement against the former Liverpool and Leicester City boss in the immediate aftermath.
In their time of need, Celtic approached 73-year-old O’Neill to come back for an interim spell in charge and he managed to steady the ship amid a major stand-off between large sections of the fanbase and the club’s board that has been boiling over for some time.
However, the appointment of Wilfried Nancy as Rodgers’ successor proved a disaster after the Frenchman was axed after barely a month in charge. The former Columbus Crew head coach presided over a shambolic run of results before O’Neill then made a dramatic quickfire return to he dugout, this time for the remainder of the season.
Initially, the champions enjoyed an upturn in form and results but Sunday’s 2-1 league defeat at home to Hibs was O’Neill’s first domestic loss and leaves Celtic trailing by six points in the title race.