Motherwell: The Premiership kingmaker aiming to create Scotland’s Bodo/Glimt

Motherwell’s form has tailed off after a remarkable run of one defeat and 14 clean sheets in 20 league matches that had them in scarcely believable title contention.

Despite that, Askou’s nine-month Premiership journey has felt like a linear path to success, with a European spot in touching distance.

That does not apply to his managerial career, although demands have always been sky-high.

At Danish club Horsens, where Askou experienced top-flight promotion and relegation, day one of his two-and-a-half-year spell began with him scurrying about with a bin bag because he felt the facilities were not up to standard.

Sporting director Niels Erik Sondergaard, who had signed the former Norwich and Millwall defender as a player for Esbjerg a decade earlier, appointed him.

“He felt it was a little bit dirty. He always wanted things clean and organised around him,” Sondergaard tells BBC Scotland, recalling Askou dipping in and out of bushes to collect fast food rubbish.

“As a player he was not born with the biggest talent, but he made it through dedication, hard work and mentality. This is what we saw when he was head coach. I knew he would go on to bigger things.”

Mikkel Frankoch, who played under Askou at Vendsyssel and HB Torshavn, remembers his “demanding yet understanding” former coach setting the bar during pre-season training.

“He was always running in front, showing us how it should be done,” says the Midtjylland youth coach. “He’s a guy you look up to. He’s changed the culture at every club he’s been at.”

Frankoch views Askou as a coaching inspiration but recalls being savagely dropped as Vendsyssel closed in on promotion.

“He told me some things he wasn’t happy about,” he says. “When I was playing again I had this hunger to show him. I played my best games afterwards.

“He has a good understanding of who should play and why they should play. He has an impact on players, helping them to show the best versions of themselves.”