On the rise & without fear – Motherwell a force under Askou

Motherwell are going places under manager Jens Berthel Askou and will only hope he isn’t.

The Dane has been an unmitigated success so far. Those, early in his tenure, who may have scoffed at his commitment to a high-risk style are scoffing no more.

The approach is working. Home fans are loving what they are seeing. There’s a togetherness and connection that had been badly lacking previously. Fir Park is a happy place to be.

“It’s hard not to be happy with the run we have gone through,” Askou told BBC Scotland after the win over Livingston.

Surprisingly, one standout fact is that Motherwell have not conceded now in four matches. At home to Hibernian, Hearts and in Falkirk. Add Livingston to that run.

Not really what they have been lauded for but clean sheets are effective in any league. Just two goals conceded in their last six.

When they’re not winning, they’re not losing right now. That gives the platform for winning more often.

“It’s something we’ve been working on since day one,” the Dane explained.

“It’s not just attack, attack, attack, we want to be a well-balanced team. It’s very difficult to create that in a short period of time, but I think now we’ve found some details and really worked on them.

“We are still reaching for a higher level, because I think there’s more in us than what we see right now.”

Since losing the Premier Sports cup semi-final to St Mirren, a major disappointment in a season of few, they are unbeaten. Three wins and three draws. Twelve points from 18 available, 18 from their last 24.

Seven changes to their starting line up to face Livingston showed the faith Askou has in that approach and his entire squad. Not many managers are so willing to do that.

The benefit, as he explained pre-match, is that everyone feels involved and the chances of overloading players in such an intense period of fixtures reduces dramatically.

With a bit of luck, that will go a long way to injury prevention that can harm clubs as the season goes on.

In their last four fixtures their manager has made 19 changes to the starting line up without much disruption at all. A stat the bodes well.

“We try to build a style and an approach in this club, that we’re not afraid of anything, that we play with bravery and confidence in the way we do things,” Askou said.

Tawanda Maswanhise has been an absolute stand out in a squad that is delivering. Shortly, he’ll head off to the African Cup of Nations with Zimbabwe and will no doubt be missed.

He has scored eight Premiership goals, around a third of Motherwell’s league return coming into the Livingston game. He’d scored in all of their previous three wins.

However, they are far from a one-man band. Three different scorers against Livingston.

Elliot Watt has been a shining light and after returning to the starting line up after he was rested midweek, he delivered a superb opener, without hesitation, finding the corner from distance.

Calum Ward in goal can’t take all the credit for clean sheets but, after a rocky start to the season, he has come through that strongly as do they back line in front of him. He made one excellent save just after half-time to maintain their lead at just 1-0 up.

What is striking is the collective seem all on the same page. There is clarity of purpose. Connection in key areas. Confidence to make decisions quickly and make the right ones.

“As a coach he trusts the players he’s working with,” said former Motherwell captain Stephen Craigan said.

“The system they have, the set-up, irrespective of who comes into the team, they know their role.

“In the early part of the season we were slightly critical of them because a lot of the time it was possession without purpose. They lacked a cutting edge. The game management without the ball wasn’t great. That left them exposed and open.

Familiarity is one area that might be exploited. Clubs may well find ways to disrupt Askou-ball the more they see. Falkirk managed that in the recent 0-0 draw.

That does a disservice to Motherwell, though, as their approach is far from one dimensional. Some teams have been unable to live with them at times. Many of them.

Perhaps capitalising more frequently in terms of wins is an area for improvement but they are often not far away.

The biggest challenge of all, as alluded to above, may well be keeping key talent and the manager himself.

There’s no doubt he will have admirers given what he’s achieved in such a short space of time.