Martin O'Neill deserves credit for the job that he has done as the interim manager of Celtic this season, over his two stints. One could argue that if the Hoops had stuck with him throughout instead of bringing in Wilfried Nancy for that eight-game spell, then they would have been in control of the league title race at this time instead of having to chase down Hearts.

Anyways, in the long run, O'Neill is not the answer for Celtic. He recently turned 74 years of age and had been pretty much retired from management since 2019, before the Hoops made the call following the resignation of Brendan Rodgers.

A few managers have been linked with the Celtic job in recent weeks. One of them is Motherwell boss Jens Berthel Askou.

Askou has done a tremendous job since taking over at Motherwell. They currently sit at fourth in the Premiership. Not only are the Fir Park side playing some good football at the moment, but they are also the best defensive team in the league by a comfortable margin.

It is that kind of balance that Celtic are missing at the moment. And if given a bigger budget, one would imagine that Askou would be able to do an even better job.

Incidentally, Celtic are set to face Motherwell next in the league. Trailing Hearts by five points with just nine games left to be played, the Hoops have little to no room for error. So, it is very possible that Askou could end the Hoops' title hopes by defeating them.

Will he be the one in the Parkhead hot seat come next season though? Well, the manager seems to be keeping his cards close to his chest. But at the same time, he did seem to suggest that he is planning for the future of Motherwell.

According to The Scottish Sun, Askou said: 

“My legacy here is not in my mind, because I’m still here. I’m planning for the future with this club, with Kyrk and all the other guys behind the scenes.

“But what I will say is that the clubs who are most successful are also consistent in their style, not just with necessarily the same staff and the same players.

“It has shown and it’s very evident that consistency, when you’re doing something right, is the key to being successful over time.

“Especially in clubs which don’t have the most resources to repair bad spells by changing the way you recruit and play all the time.

“I know, and every manager or player should know, that you’re only there for a brief spell in that club’s history.

“This is a very old and proud club. So you try to look after it while you’re here and give it your best every single day.

“And then you hope some of that will leave an impression and some good memories to the guys who will be here for generations.

“If that’s the case, then I think you’ve done something right.”

Judging from those comments, it does not look like Celtic is at the forefront of Askou's thinking at the moment. Then again, you should not expect that to be the case either.

At the end of the day, there is no guarantee that Celtic will even make a serious push to bring him in. A lot can change between now and the summer.

Roberto Martinez is another manager who has been linked with the Parkhead job recently. And the current Portugal national team boss would certainly be the kind of big-name appointment that would attract headlines and satisfy a large section of the support. Askou would not do that.

It is also worth mentioning that O'Neill has not completely closed the door on the possibility of continuing as Celtic manager either. That looks pretty unlikely. Then again, if he can guide the team to a double, there is a possibility that the Hoops would think about continuing with a formula that is working. They already changed it once, with Nancy, and paid a heavy price for it.

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