Lots of celebrations followed Motherwell’s win at Ibrox on Sunday with good reason. Any points dropped by a title contender this late in the season has real consequences. Newco’s only compensation is that Celtic and Hearts both have to visit Motherwell in the next three games; I don’t fancy either to win.
Motherwell are by any measure an awesome football team. They comfortably beat Celtic at Fir Park in December, while both losses at Celtic Park this season came after titanic struggles (as well as a goalkeeper error and a red card). They bossed the game at Ibrox, where they ripped through the Newco midfield regularly.
All this from a side which spent less money than the previous season, despite selling their best player, Lennon Miller, to Udinese for £5m. Last term, they finished eighth. Manager Stuart Kettlewell had had enough of the hostile environment and left in January, while they made their way to the end of the campaign with two different interim managers.
What happened next was they appointed a manager who is a generational talent. Jens Berthel Askou (43) came in and bossed the dressing room, the fans and (in large parts) the Scottish Premiership. If it was Newco who were looking for a manager in the summer, you would rightly be concerned they would pick him up. Derek McInnes might well look over his shoulder and wonder if his job is safe with a talent like Askou on Tony Bloom’s radar, whether he wins the league or not.
Askou understands the environment Motherwell operate in. He received only £250k of the proceeds from Miller’s transfer to spend. He worked with Motherwell’s rudimentary scouting system to bring in players he almost certainly knew little about from England, Scotland and beyond, mostly on free transfers.
Yet he has transformed them into a potent force. Their shape in and out of possession is difficult to play against, they all run with their heads up, watching for danger and opportunity. There are no hiders.
Celtic have made two successive bad managerial appointments. One, sacked after eight games, the other left with a litany of complaints listed on the club website on the day he left the building. Those charged with getting it right this time will feel the burden of those failures and might be inclined to play it ‘safe’, by appointing a more recognisable name. That is how mistakes compound.
The visit to Fir Park on 13 May is the remaining game I am least confident about, because Motherwell have the best manager I have seen in a very long time. I would be concerned if Askou ended up at Ibrox or Tynecastle. No appointment would excite me more for Celtic.
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We’ve nae rolls mate.
Happy Wednesday eve!
Two bad managerial appointments?
The relentless hate campaign continues.
Absolutely ridiculous.
C’mon the Hoops
More Board propaganda
Beaton and Dallas for Hearts v Huns,you couldn’t have got a bet on that….
Id like a slightly bigger sample size to judge him in. He’s been fired a few times too.
Well, like MON and WGS, BTM and NFL, at least JBA fits the requirement for three letter abbreviations.
Tee hee Paul – I refuse to bite and feed the trolls!
Having just watched that game, yes Well knock it around nicely. Yet they were besieged at times by a bang average assortment of govan galacticos.
Is this a kite flyer to test the air over possibility that JBA has signed on ?
MAOLMUIRE O MUIRGHEASA on 28TH APRIL 2026 11:10 AM
The SFA are doing their best . . .
” The match at Easter Road will see David Dickinson in charge as the referee.
Calum Spence and Douglas Ross will be his assistants on the sidelines, while Don Robertson will be monitoring the game closely from Clydesdale House, “
……………………………..
THE BADA BING on 28TH APRIL 2026 11:30 AM
Beaton and Dallas for Hearts v Huns,you couldn’t have got a bet on that
…………………………………
A veritable parcel o’ rogues. SFA going the extra mile for the Huns.
I’d be amazed if Askou doesn’t have any better offers than Tynecastle or Ibrox. Would like to see him at Celtic, but I wouldn’t take it for granted that we could attract him, given how the club is run. I’m sure he’ll be on the radar of English Championship clubs – properly ambitious clubs who can see beyond their own city.
Paul67
OFFS
‘Morning Paul , Michael here …. got a wee job for you .
‘Aye , that’s right , he was happy with £250k to spend from £5 player sale ! Ho ho ho!
Paul just can’t help himself. There’s no equivalence between the Brendan and Nancy tenures.
Pistol Pete having lunch with Arry Redknapp and Tony Bloom at the game in Easter Road. Pistol Paul telling us all about Tony Bloom last season.
See what I did there CSC
If the first of those ‘bad’ appointments was so terrible, why did you not complain, about those who made the appointment, before they made the second?
Funny that.
Thing is that even with Beaton and Dallas, a win for TFOD at Tynecastle would suit us bettter.
If we win the league this year we will go into the CL Playoff round on 18-19 and 25-26 August and be guaranteed EL group.
If we are second, we will start in the CL 2nd qualifying round (League Path ) with games starting on 21-22 and 28-29 July.
So a really early start and just 2 days after the world cup final. If any of our players get to the round of 16, they would be playing as late as 7th July. Quarter finals would be up to 11th July. Semi-final up to 15th July.
I think you are 100% correct.
After the Nancy debacle they can’t afford to gamble with another relatively inexperienced manager with a limited track record.
A ‘safe pair of hands’ it is likely to be.
“Celtic have made two successive bad managerial appointments. One, sacked after eight games, the other left with a litany of complaints listed on the club website on the day he left the building. Those charged with getting it right this time will feel the burden of those failures and might be inclined to play it ‘safe’, by appointing a more recognisable name.”
Well, if you include Lenny MkII you could say three out of four bad managerial appointments and with Ange a sliding doors’ moment, it doesn’t bode too well now does it.!?
Brendan Rodgers was only a bad appointment in terms of a faction of the Board didn’t want him so plotted against him.
His record in footballing terms was every bit as good as Ange’s and his financial delivery was eye-wateringly record breaking.
The “list of compliants” mentioned was bogus, not a shred of evidence to support them.
Dermot Desmond deeply involved in his biggest ever deal with the coolmore mafia was fixated on the record breaking Barchester deal and obviously had no idea what was going down at Celtic PLC HQ.
His knee jerk reaction when he returmed to take up tge reins, hurled the club back to the car crash that was Peter Lawwell’s last efforts as CEO.
It had taken us four seasons rebuild to recover from that, four seasons of hard work and application at Lennoxtown.
Obviously, far too late, DD recognised what a clusterfarrago his trusted lieutenants had left, in their bid to ruin the manager…
A great silver lining in this season’s dark cloud is these shysters were shown the door.
My belief is the short term grief we are now going through will be worth it for getting rid of Tom Allison and Peter Lawwell who have held our club back for two decades..
Hip! Hip! Hooorayyyy…
Hail Hail
The Battered Bunnet @ 12:17 pm,
Do you mean a TLA.!?
Hail Haul
Looks like you’ve managed to upset Chairboy & Chums without even mentioning the ‘R’ word 😂
the Bada Bing on 28th April 2026 12:14 pm
Beaton and Dallas for Hearts v Huns,you couldn’t have got a bet on that….
——————————–
I hear and agree with you Bada but let’s see how McInnes reacts should his team be on the receiving end of some dodgy decisions. Massive focus on all games so will be interesting to see how the officiating plays out.
On similar topic, the ref on Saturday v Falkurk is one for the watching. Will be fast tracked if he keeps that up.
If a manager who has won 4 domestic trophies out of 6 is a “bad managerial appointment” the sheysters and crooks must be going for Klopp or Pep at the end of the season. Great stuff Paul.
KB- the clown on Saturday, is another one who man marks Celtic players,by standing too close to them,McInnes won’t be slow to call out Beaton and Co
Klopp would be a great appointment – albeit more likely in a dream than in reality, even if we could persuade him to change his name to Jürgen Strachan …..
Well a League & Scottish Cup double 2023-24 and a late Maeda miss away from a 2024-25 Treble, suggests that Brendan Rodgers was far from being a bad managerial appointment. Not to mention a creditable CL run last season. What Paul67 & the Green Brigade share is a hatred of Rodgers, one on personal grounds while the other branded him as a traitor to the cause. Albeit one who netted us £9.5 mill en route to Leicester.
That said, there were signs late 2023, aided and abetted by Captain Flint that he was more than capable of undermining the club and his own players. That trait re-appeared early this season, which along with a host of bad results, leading to his resignation, a righteous broadside from Dermot Desmond, and, always a flight risk, a magic carpet ride to the House Of Saud, present holder of the world record for beheadings in public…..
Ye Gotta Roll With It Paul….
Celtic Mac @ 1:22 pm,
Host of bad results….
Dundee 2 – 0 Celtic
Hearts 3 – 1 Celtic
It’s as if some were looking for half an excuse to get him emptied…
You guys were part of the campaign
Never forget that…
Hail Hail
Mrs Emeraldbee just asked me a question about Celtic that I could not, in all honesty, answer accurately.
“Who was it actually made the decision that the R2ngers fans should not be allowed into Celtic Park for the next game?”
Ponder, ponder. Stuck for an answer I asked myself just who would have come up with that? I just can’t see our CEO leading with that one, but if not him, who?
Ave Ave
I have yet to hear of the crypto jews in the house of Saud committing genocide.
Maybe Askou can drive a Honda Civic like a Ferrari?
Lest we forget…
celtic mac
so working in a country complicit in genocide is okay then ?
its staggering to think that any celtic fan would ignore the crimes of the uk
Wilfried Nancy is a tough act to follow for any permanent manager, given he once nearly signed for Carlisle Utd and knew Scottish football well
Who Dunn That CSC
Motherwell have won just 4 and lost 5 of their last 11 games, and they’ve won just 1 of their last 6 games, keeping just the one clean sheet, when they too failed to score. They were great when there was no real pressure to win and nothing much at stake, but as soon as people started talking about them potentially being in the mix for the title, ramping up the pressure to consistently deliver results, the wheels came off. Whether or not their manager could cope with the pressure and demands at Celtic probably warrants deeper analysis and much more debate…
Wow they really have gone for it this weekend.
Interesting officiating combos for this weekend.
Dickenson
Spence
Ross
Robertson var
For us
Beaton
Dallas on var for them
Off topic by miles but does anyone think the so called attempt on Trumpy was not a set up and staged to get him a sympathy vote !!!!
If that’s the case my name is Santa Claus
Anyone with a modicum of intelligence can see, pathetic.
These real hit men, rarely miss, if ever
kingLUBO
I would ask permission to speak to Askou and leak it to the press five minutes after theyve taken points off Hearts
An old trick from the Murray playbook but I’ll take any small margin
KINGLUBO
He wasn’t a real hit man…he is/was a school teacher.
Emerald Bee,this is all do far ‘the club’ :-))
Hope all good
By Celtic Football Club
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24 Apr 2026, 5:36 pm
Following the most recent derby match at Ibrox, Celtic Football Club has engaged in dialogue with Rangers FC with regards to ticketing for the forthcoming game at Celtic Park.
To be clear, we are ready and willing to make the full allocation as normal available to Rangers FC, subject to a condition regarding distribution to a particular section.
Celtic’s priority will always be the safety of those attending Celtic Park, and following a detailed risk assessment with regards to the forthcoming match, the club has made a reasonable request of Rangers FC that tickets are not distributed to a section of supporters which very recently and identifiably engaged in serious violence and disorder involving Celtic supporters, staff, police and stewards.
To our surprise and disappointment Rangers have not agreed to this request. Celtic are ready to engage further with the SPFL and Rangers FC on this matter.
HH