Jens Berthel Askou has left Motherwell to become head coach of Toulouse, bringing his spell in Scotland to an end just days after he led the club into Europe. Motherwell confirmed the move after agreeing a compensation package with the French side, who will make the 43-year-old their new manager at the end of the season.
Askou arrived at Fir Park last summer and left with Motherwell celebrating a fourth-placed finish in the Scottish Premiership after beating Hibernian at Easter Road last Saturday. That result secured European football and capped a season in which Motherwell finished with more than 60 points, lost their fewest top-flight games since 1959, posted the second-best defensive record in their top-tier history and set a new club clean-sheet record.
In a statement, Askou said “grateful is the best word to describe” his Motherwell tenure. He called the past year “an amazing journey” and said the support from players, staff, board members, volunteers and supporters had been “invaluable” in helping him lead the club’s development. He added that the season ended “couldn't have been written better” after the hard-fought win at Easter Road left Motherwell chasing European football next season.
Toulouse, who were 10th in Ligue 1, will now hand the job to Askou when Carles Martinez Novell’s three-year reign ends at the conclusion of this season. The Danish coach becomes part of a managerial change at a club looking upward after a steady campaign in France, while Motherwell must now turn again to another new face after another brief and successful stint from a head coach.
That instability has been part of the backdrop at Fir Park in recent seasons. Stuart Kettlewell resigned after citing fan abuse, and Michael Wimmer left after keeping the side in the top flight, following the summer of a toxic dispute between the club and supporters over a failed takeover attempt involving a former Netflix vice president. Askou’s departure does not erase the progress he made, but it does leave Motherwell once more searching for continuity after one of their strongest league seasons in years.
Askou said special opportunities come rare in football and that sometimes “you have to leave great things behind to create new ones no matter how hard it is.” Motherwell’s next task is to prove that the standards he set can survive the move to Toulouse.
