The Jens Berthel Askou Discussion Thread

[Electric Blues]

1 hour ago, wellgirl said:

Someone on pie and bov just said if our new manager does well he could make the step up to St Mirren in a couple of years 

(saying nothing) 

That was a St Mirren fan at the wind up. Not the first of the day, and I doubt it'll be the last.

[wellgirl]

6 minutes ago, Electric Blues said:

That was a St Mirren fan at the wind up. Not the first of the day, and I doubt it'll be the last.

Yeah I got that 

[texanwellfan]

Now that we know the manager I suppose the focus will be on the ins and outs. 
    I’d say first task is we need to strengthen the middle of the defence. 
 A good quality midfielder with some pace. 
A good old fashioned centre Forward. Maybe Armstrong would work under a different manager and more attacking style of play? 
speedy winger. 
I think we have some decent players in our squad and adding just a small number of players with the right qualities in the right positions could vastly improve our performances and results. 
I know we already signed McGhee and Fadinger so in addition to them …….
minimum: 4 players

strong centre back

midfielder with pace

strong imposing centre forward

speedy winger 

maximum: 4 mentioned above + 2 others

Moving some of our existing squad would make it easier to bring in new faces but it has to be quality over quantity.  I think we already have quantity so we need to change that to having quality. 

Edited 22 hours ago by texanwellfan
Sorry! Maybe admin can move to correct thread “ins and outs”

[wellgirl]

38 minutes ago, texanwellfan said:

Now that we know the manager I suppose the focus will be on the ins and outs. 
    I’d say first task is we need to strengthen the middle of the defence. 
 A good quality midfielder with some pace. 
A good old fashioned centre Forward. Maybe Armstrong would work under a different manager and more attacking style of play? 
speedy winger. 
I think we have some decent players in our squad and adding just a small number of players with the right qualities in the right positions could vastly improve our performances and results. 
I know we already signed McGhee and Fadinger so in addition to them …….
minimum: 4 players

strong centre back

midfielder with pace

strong imposing centre forward

speedy winger 

maximum: 4 mentioned above + 2 others

Moving some of our existing squad would make it easier to bring in new faces but it has to be quality over quantity.  I think we already have quantity so we need to change that to having quality. 

Armstrong is back at Carlisle as far as I'm aware. 

[joewarkfanclub]

I think we need to write off Nicholson, Robinson and Stuparevic from the squad. They are unlikely to contribute anything this season.

Miller will obviously also be gone at some point.

That leaves us

Oxborough, Ward

SOD, Koutroumbis, McGinn, Balmer, Wilson, McGhee

Sparrow, Halliday, Slattery, Fadinger, Wells, Ross

Stama, Maswanhise

Of those out of contract, I think the only one Id try to keep is Seddon and at a push Paton.

Thats a squad of 18 at present, which I would say leaves us room for at least 4 signings to improve the quality available for the starting 11 and resign some of the existing squad to places on the bench.

If Sylla is one of those, I think we need a centre half, attacking midfielder, and a striker (2 would be nice).

[mfc]

19 minutes ago, wellgirl said:

Armstrong is back at Carlisle as far as I'm aware. 

Aye he's back at carlisle and won't be returning as he's very much in there managers plans for the coming season.

[wellgirl]

17 minutes ago, joewarkfanclub said:

I think we need to write off Nicholson, Robinson and Stuparevic from the squad. They are unlikely to contribute anything this season.

Miller will obviously also be gone at some point.

That leaves us

Oxborough, Ward

SOD, Koutroumbis, McGinn, Balmer, Wilson, McGhee

Sparrow, Halliday, Slattery, Fadinger, Wells, Ross

Stama, Maswanhise

Of those out of contract, I think the only one Id try to keep is Seddon and at a push Paton.

Thats a squad of 18 at present, which I would say leaves us room for at least 4 signings to improve the quality available for the starting 11 and resign some of the existing squad to places on the bench.

If Sylla is one of those, I think we need a centre half, attacking midfielder, and a striker (2 would be nice).

Stuparevic has a Ionger term injury but if the other two are recovering don't see why they shouldn't play a part next season. 

[mfc]

It's not quite a clean slate but with some players moving on already and a good fee for miller almost certainly incoming then there should be enough scope for the new manager to make the changes that's required.no harm to any of the guys that are out of contract that might yet stay but I hope none of them do.

[SteelmaninOZ]

I Askou to give him a chance  somebody had to say it 

[joewarkfanclub]

44 minutes ago, wellgirl said:

Stuparevic has a Ionger term injury but if the other two are recovering don't see why they shouldn't play a part next season. 

They all have long term injuries.....

[wellgirl]

8 minutes ago, joewarkfanclub said:

They all have long term injuries.....

I don't think so. Robinson was out for the season (last season) and Nicolson was in surgery in February and it was said he would be out for months. Stuparevics injury would seem to be the most serious of the three. 

Would expect so see Robinson and Nicolson to feature at some point next season 

[fizoxy]

1 hour ago, joewarkfanclub said:

That leaves us

Oxborough, Ward

SOD, Koutroumbis, McGinn, Balmer, Wilson, McGhee

Sparrow, Halliday, Slattery, Fadinger, Wells, Ross

Stama, Maswanhise

Of those out of contract, I think the only one Id try to keep is Seddon and at a push Paton.

Thats a squad of 18 at present, which I would say leaves us room for at least 4 signings to improve the quality available for the starting 11 and resign some of the existing squad to places on the bench.

If Sylla is one of those, I think we need a centre half, attacking midfielder, and a striker (2 would be nice).

You missed Gordon.

3-4 signings sounds about right.

Unless Robinson is due back soon, we need 2 forwards. Maybe Ross, Fadinger, or Wells are considered part of a front 3?

I wonder if we will take advantage of the flexible loan thing that starts this year, to keep the young players getting minutes but still being available for us. 

[Ya Bezzer!]

My view on the appointment.

Well first of all I'm working off very little information.

First things first, three kids in Denmark!  I mean, that's only a semi serious point cos Wimmer definitely didn't leave because of his kids.

On the face of it his managerial record is a bit meh but probably within the range you'd expect a Motherwell manager to be in.  Most of his 'good' spells have been at pretty low levels of football and it's noticeable that Goteborg got worse when he was there and better when he left.

The thing that jumps out at me though is his terms as manager have been pretty short (albeit not as short as Wimmer!).

A year at Vendsyssel, a year at Goteborg, a year and a half at Horsens.  

Also the fact that he's given up manager positions to become assistant manager else where strikes me as a bit odd.

He does seem to have a track record of developing youth but that might just be other leagues and other countries develop youth much better than Scotland, which is one of the worst in Europe.

Anyway, I'm £500 in next season, so hopefully he does well but as I've said previously I think the whole Wimmer situation has kinda sabotaged our close season and prep for the upcoming season.  Factor in the current squad, our best player almost certainly leaving and the fact that Livingston and ourselves will be the two smallest clubs in the division next season (two smallest clubs got relegated last term) and maybe it's a case of looking at next season, taking a deep breath and adopting a grim countenance.  

We've yet to see a ball kicked and there is still a lot of close season to pass but I'd be very cautious right now about any hopes and aspirations.

 

 

[wellfan]

According to Wikipedia:

Jens Berthel Askou (born 19 August 1982) is a Danish professional football manager and former player. He is currently the Manager of Scottish Premiership club Motherwell. Jens has already settled in well to the Motherwell area after realising Chris Hogg has Jens Berthel Askou pyjamas.

[wellon]

1 hour ago, Ya Bezzer! said:

My view on the appointment.

Well first of all I'm working off very little information.

First things first, three kids in Denmark!  I mean, that's only a semi serious point cos Wimmer definitely didn't leave because of his kids.

On the face of it his managerial record is a bit meh but probably within the range you'd expect a Motherwell manager to be in.  Most of his 'good' spells have been at pretty low levels of football and it's noticeable that Goteborg got worse when he was there and better when he left.

The thing that jumps out at me though is his terms as manager have been pretty short (albeit not as short as Wimmer!).

A year at Vendsyssel, a year at Goteborg, a year and a half at Horsens.  

Also the fact that he's given up manager positions to become assistant manager else where strikes me as a bit odd.

He does seem to have a track record of developing youth but that might just be other leagues and other countries develop youth much better than Scotland, which is one of the worst in Europe.

Anyway, I'm £500 in next season, so hopefully he does well but as I've said previously I think the whole Wimmer situation has kinda sabotaged our close season and prep for the upcoming season.  Factor in the current squad, our best player almost certainly leaving and the fact that Livingston and ourselves will be the two smallest clubs in the division next season (two smallest clubs got relegated last term) and maybe it's a case of looking at next season, taking a deep breath and adopting a grim countenance.  

We've yet to see a ball kicked and there is still a lot of close season to pass but I'd be very cautious right now about any hopes and aspirations.

 

 

If he only stays a season,  that's an upgrade on MW so let's be positive...you're not setting your hopes too high, that's for sure and a pessimist is never disappointed 😉 

[Pettywulliegrew-2]

We have started a trend…….Spurs appoint a Dane……..wonder who will last the longest ???

[joewarkfanclub]

10 hours ago, wellgirl said:

I don't think so. Robinson was out for the season (last season) and Nicolson was in surgery in February and it was said he would be out for months. Stuparevics injury would seem to be the most serious of the three. 

Would expect so see Robinson and Nicolson to feature at some point next season 

Robinson did his achilles which are notoriously difficult to come back from. The earliest prognosis was September but thats without any preseason. We will be lucky to see him this side of Xmas if at all.

Nicholson just keeps breaking down. He has had surgery to try and fix the latest in a long line of injuries. I wouldnt be pinning my hopes on him featuring any time soon either.

Best to write them off and be pleasantly susprised if they contribute anything. But we cant leave ourselves short of numbers. Look what happened last season!

[wellfan]

34 minutes ago, joewarkfanclub said:

Robinson did his achilles which are notoriously difficult to come back from. The earliest prognosis was September but thats without any preseason. We will be lucky to see him this side of Xmas if at all.

Nicholson just keeps breaking down. He has had surgery to try and fix the latest in a long line of injuries. I wouldnt be pinning my hopes on him featuring any time soon either.

Best to write them off and be pleasantly susprised if they contribute anything. But we cant leave ourselves short of numbers. Look what happened last season!

Robinson was just an unfortunate case of bad luck.

The situation with Nicholson, though, is entirely on the club. He’s a good player when fit, but handing a contract to someone who openly admitted to having dodgy knees was a stupid decision.

And then there’s Stuparevic. Is he just shit? Misjudged? Either way, he’s now completely sidelined for the foreseeable future.

[Onthefringes]

4 hours ago, Ya Bezzer! said:

My view on the appointment.

Well first of all I'm working off very little information.

First things first, three kids in Denmark!  I mean, that's only a semi serious point cos Wimmer definitely didn't leave because of his kids.

On the face of it his managerial record is a bit meh but probably within the range you'd expect a Motherwell manager to be in.  Most of his 'good' spells have been at pretty low levels of football and it's noticeable that Goteborg got worse when he was there and better when he left.

The thing that jumps out at me though is his terms as manager have been pretty short (albeit not as short as Wimmer!).

A year at Vendsyssel, a year at Goteborg, a year and a half at Horsens.  

Also the fact that he's given up manager positions to become assistant manager else where strikes me as a bit odd.

He does seem to have a track record of developing youth but that might just be other leagues and other countries develop youth much better than Scotland, which is one of the worst in Europe.

Anyway, I'm £500 in next season, so hopefully he does well but as I've said previously I think the whole Wimmer situation has kinda sabotaged our close season and prep for the upcoming season.  Factor in the current squad, our best player almost certainly leaving and the fact that Livingston and ourselves will be the two smallest clubs in the division next season (two smallest clubs got relegated last term) and maybe it's a case of looking at next season, taking a deep breath and adopting a grim countenance.  

We've yet to see a ball kicked and there is still a lot of close season to pass but I'd be very cautious right now about any hopes and aspirations.

Interested to see your rationale for that thought?

[Kmcalpin]

Is everyone happy that we're well covered at left wing back?

[joewarkfanclub]

Just now, Kmcalpin said:

Is everyone happy that we're well covered at left wing back?

Id be happy enough if we sign Seddon as first pick and Wilson as back up. 

Im not sure we can afford to carry 3 on that side?

Not sure if McGhee can cover that side. It was said that he was a good utility player in a number of positions albeit more right sided.

[weeyin]

4 minutes ago, Kmcalpin said:

Is everyone happy that we're well covered at left wing back?

Until we know what formations the new manager wants to play, I have no idea where we are well covered. Not everyone plays wing backs.

[joewarkfanclub]

3 minutes ago, weeyin said:

Until we know what formations the new manager wants to play, I have no idea where we are well covered. Not everyone plays wing backs.

Aye, sorry, I missed that it was specifically wing backs.

I would hope that the new manager would come in, see what he has got and go feom there. The squad is currently more suited to 4 at the back, but I would suggest we need a bit more pace in midfield and forward areas to supllement what is there.

[texanwellfan]

I thought I read he prefers 4-3-3? So I would imagine he’ll look at what he has and see what he needs and determine our chances of getting the right players in to make that work. 

[Toxteth O'Grady]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cdxv1vd7wx7o

Quote

Askou wants 'aggressive not passive' 

New Motherwell manager Jens Berthel Askou wants his players to be "aggressive".

Former IFK Gothenburg boss Askou, 42, has replaced Michael Wimmer in the Fir Park dugout and his first games in charge will be in next month's League Cup first-round group stage.

Well will play Clyde, Peterhead, Stenhousemuir and Greenock Morton. Askou's first Scottish Premiership fixtures will be in early August.

"I'm here to make [the players'] dreams come true," said the Dane.

"I have to push them every day and teach them that they can actually do more than they think they can do. I think that's my most important job."

And he added: "Managing style-wise, I believe in being aggressive, I believe in attacking. We attack the opponent if we have the ball or if we don't have the ball.

"I don't like passive football. I believe in taking the initiative and I want my players to express themselves on the pitch, to show some joy, some passion and respect for the game."

Askou cited "the passion about football from the supporters" from his spell as a player with Norwich City from 2009-11 as he prepared to return to the UK.

"The passion also from the players, I really thrived on that because I am also very passionate about football and winning," he explained.

"I really hope to experience that again as a manager and a coach. That's something I work on, being good enough to go there and see what I can do with a British team."