Assuming he gets the big move this summer that he deserves, Jens Berthel Askou ought to leave Motherwell with one massive bugbear gnawing away at him — and it’s not being excluded from the shortlist for the PFA Scotland Manager of the Year award.
It’s the fact that the Scottish Cup was there for the taking for the Steelmen this season and he blew it by picking the wrong team at Aberdeen.
Make no mistake, this has been a special, special campaign at Fir Park. The board made a point of picking a bloke last summer who would get bums on seats and he most definitely has.
The way Askou has coached this team and made them play has been an absolute revelation and a joy to behold. Having five players in the Premiership Team of the Year and two members of his side up for Player of the Year tells you everything you need to know. The manager has been brilliant.
Yet, it is hard to look back at the last nine months without getting caught up over and over again with that chaotic night at Pittodrie in mid-February.
Askou and his players were angry with the sendings-off of Oscar Priestman and Liam Gordon. The big issue, though, was that Askou simply got his selections wrong. Goalkeeper Calum Ward, part of that PFA Team of the Year, didn’t start. Elliot Watt, also in the Team of the Year, didn’t start. Emmanuel Longelo, two-goal hero at Ibrox last weekend, didn’t start. Callum Slattery didn’t start.
Jens Berthel Askou will have plenty of options to move on from Motherwell this summer
Rookie keeper Matty Connelly sold the jerseys early doors and it was an uphill struggle from there — even when the Dons had gone down to 10 men themselves.
Asked by yours truly about the changes to his line-up afterwards, Askou was bullish. He’d been switching it up all season, he said. Anyone who watched them regularly would know that, he said. It didn’t really wash.
Well fans will always look back on this term with such fondness. Yet, they cannot possibly be looking at Dunfermline — who wiped the floor with that gutless, cowardly, bad-value Aberdeen side — preparing for a cup final with Celtic and not think it should be them.
Askou has turned round players’ careers this season. There’s no question he has made leaps and bounds himself as a coach. He’s turned Motherwell into a club with a host of sellable assets and the potential to develop a really strong financial base.
Yet, for all that, the Dane must surely leave the campaign having learned a crucial lesson going forward. When you are facing up to your biggest game of the campaign by miles, you keep it simple and pick your strongest team. End of.
