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Jens Berthel Askou is a shining example of what can happen in life when one is prepared to broaden one’s horizons.
Sixteen years ago, the Dane first alighted in Scotland after an indifferent spell in Turkey with Kasimpasa SK. Having joined Norwich City’s training camp on trial, he was thrown into a bounce match against Airdrie.
Without a stroke of good fortune going his way, he believes his career might have gone down an entirely different path.
‘I scored against Airdrie, so I’ve got a head start there,’ smiled the new Motherwell manager.
‘I have to admit, I don’t even remember much about the goal. Luckily, someone hit me straight in my face and it went in. Then I succeeded in convincing them that I was worth keeping.
‘I spent two years at Norwich. I met some very nice people there. I was lucky enough to have two Scottish managers.
Jens Berthel Askou was a leftfield choice to succeed Michael Wimmer as Motherwell manager
Askou makes his way to the Fir Park press room to formally introduce himself
Askou played under Paul Lambert at Norwich and was part of their League One-winning squad
‘I had some Scottish team-mates who also had a history here at this club, Stephen Hughes and Simon Lappin. And then we had some friends outside football who were also Scottish. Nice people.
‘So, my initial impression of Scotland has been very, very good.’
Bryan Gunn, who’d been in charge as the Canaries were relegated to League One, was only ever holding the fort that summer. It was to be another Scot with a famous Fir Park connection in Paul Lambert who’d take charge and lead the side on a magic carpet ride back to the Premier League with successive promotions.
The impression the Champions League winner made on Askou was to prove life-affirming.
‘In terms of directness and clarity and how demanding he was, he was a big influence on my managerial career,’ said the 42-year-old. ‘There was an aura about him that inspired and pushed people to the maximum. He was demanding, but it was a very good environment. I have great respect for what he did.’
That period in Norwich’s history underscores what a huge thing momentum can be. Having romped to the League One title, Norwich kept winning in the Championship and clinched second spot.
Russell Martin was a team-mate of Askou's and now the pair will meet again in Scotland
‘I think we got it right in so many ways,’ added Askou. ‘Our approach was really sharp at that time. We found some really good players with a lot of leadership and huge drive in their personalities. It was a very self-driven group.’
Russell Martin was another figure from that time who made a profound impression on the Dane. He arrived on loan from Peterborough in the November of that first season and enhanced the dressing room culture.
‘He was a fantastic person off the pitch,’ Askou recalled of the now Rangers boss. ‘Very, very professional. Very dedicated. A genuinely good guy. He approached everyone with the same attitude. Very friendly.
‘He started his manager career in Milton Keynes and he’s just done really, really well since then.’
They will meet soon enough when hostilities in the Scottish Premiership resume. Askou believes there will be subtle differences in how their respective sides go about the business.
‘He’s got a modern approach to football and so do I,’ he said. ‘He’s very uncompromising in his passing (style).
Askou played with former Motherwell stars Simon Lappin and Stephen Hughes at Norwich
‘I’ve probably in my career been a little bit more pragmatic at times. But I would say that maybe I’ve become more uncompromising in terms of if you really want to become really good at something then you have to be brave enough to do it when it hurts the most sometimes.’
This philosophy has not been arrived at without careful consideration. After leaving East Anglia, Askou ran down his playing career at a string of lesser-known clubs in Denmark before taking his first managerial job at tiny Vendsyssel FF.
‘I took over just before the end of the season in the second league,’ he recalled. ‘We were hanging in there and almost lost the chance of promotion. Then we did it through the play-offs.
‘It was a very special year. It was a very small club. We had to do everything on our own. We were pumping up the balls, cutting the grass and watering the pitch. It was a great experience. I even hired my own sporting director after the original one resigned when I was a head coach.’
With success, the offers came. HB Torshavn in the Faroe Islands may not be one of the game’s hotbeds, but it felt like the right place at the right time.
‘It was an opportunity for me to do something different, to go my own way,’ recalled Askou.
Askou managed fallen Swedish giants Gothenburg and helped save them from relegation
He landed the league and cup Double there, earned experience of European football and eventually was offered the chance to return to Denmark as manager of AC Horsens.
After two years in which he also took them to the top division, fallen Swedish giants Gothenburg came calling.
‘We were trying to rebuild the club from risking relegation, which would have been a disaster for a club of that size,’ he explained.
‘We made it in the last game of the league that season. We stayed up by scoring to make it 2-1 in the 96th minute to get us out of relegation. And then we started rebuilding with an even more brave style of play for six months.’
He maintains he would gladly have remained had Sparta Prague not wanted to make him their assistant. His stay in the Czech capital only lasted six months — the time it took FC Copenhagen to offer him the same position. His burgeoning reputation was enhanced by helping them to the Double and the knockout stages of the Conference League.
Self-assured and intelligent, you can see why Motherwell offered him a return to a managerial role. But with so many recent entries on his CV, you can also understand why some fans might question if he’s going to stick around for long following the short-lived Michael Wimmer episode.
Lennon Miller looks likely to move on from Motherwell and Askou admits it's a possibility
‘I have no plans of going anywhere but here for as long as the club wants me,’ he stressed.
He’s realistic about the prospect of retaining Lennon Miller beyond the transfer window.
‘I think it would be naive to say we’re not planning without him,’ he said. ‘But right now, he’s here.’
This speaks to an understanding of what he’s signed up for. The promotion of youth, the main tenet of Motherwell’s model, runs in his blood.
‘I’ve given 25 or 26 under-19 players their first game in my five- and-a-half years as a head coach,’ he said. ‘I know what it’s like and I love seeing young people develop and thrive.
‘Some of them might start in the school around the corner. Then they might end up somewhere in a big European club when they’re 20 years old. How fantastic it is to see people fulfil their dreams.
‘I’m very excited to be here, because I feel I’ve found a place where I will thrive.’
