Next Motherwell Manager Odds: Five Potential Candidates To Replace Jens Berthel Askou
Following the departure of Jens Berthel Askou as Motherwell head coach, UK betting sites are expected to offer next Motherwell manager betting odds imminently.
Askou left Fir Park on Thursday after Ligue 1 side Toulouse triggered an agreed compensation package, ending a single, record-breaking season in Lanarkshire that delivered a fourth-place Premiership finish, Conference League football and the club's best top-flight points total since 2013/14.
But the search for a permanent successor is already underway, and here at Freebets.com, we take a closer look at the leading candidates and the latest next Motherwell manager odds.
Next Motherwell Manager Odds
With Askou gone, Conference League qualifiers on the horizon, and chairman Kyrk Macmillan publicly committing to "build, not rip up" the existing model, the Steelmen are now on the hunt for a head coach to lead the next chapter - and here we take a look at five realistic candidates who could be next in line to take charge at Fir Park.
| Candidate | Next Motherwell Manager Odds |
| John McGlynn | 9/4 |
| Stevie Hammell | 4/1 |
| Jimmy Thelin | 9/2 |
| Scott Brown | 6/1 |
| Russell Martin | 8/1 |
Odds are implied probabilities based on current transfer reporting - no current markets are available at UK betting sites.
John McGlynn
John McGlynn is the early market leader and the obvious place to start.
The Falkirk boss is out of contract this summer and has just been nominated for PFA Scotland Manager of the Year for the third consecutive season, eventually losing out to Hearts' Derek McInnes.
Back-to-back promotions from League One and the Championship, followed by a top-six Premiership finish at fan-owned Falkirk on a shoestring budget, make him a clean fit for what Motherwell need next.
McGlynn already has two Manager of the Year awards in the bag from his Falkirk tenure, plus a third from his Raith Rovers days in 2010/11 - the only manager in the award's history to win it with more than one club.
He knows the Scottish recruitment market inside out, has spent his whole career working under tight financial constraints, and his front-foot style mirrors the brief Head of Football Nick Daws and CEO Brian Caldwell have followed for the last two appointments.
There is the small matter of his age - he turns 65 in December - and Falkirk will fight to keep him, but if the Well Society want a manager they can appoint inside a fortnight, McGlynn is the one.
Stevie Hammell
Stevie Hammell would be a romantic return for a manager who briefly took the Motherwell job back in 2022 before being moved on the following February.
The 44-year-old is Motherwell's post-war record appearance holder with 583 games across two playing spells at Fir Park, captained the club for years, and was promoted from academy director to first-team manager in August 2022 following Graham Alexander's departure. He was sacked in February 2023 after a Scottish Cup defeat to Raith Rovers, and has been Celtic's Head of Academy Coaching ever since - overseeing the development of one of Scotland's most productive youth set-ups for the last three years.
Hammell's affinity for the club is unrivalled on this list, and his three years inside Celtic Park give him a perspective on elite youth development that aligns perfectly with the data-and-pathway model Nick Daws has built at Fir Park.
The first stint as manager still leaves a faint sour taste, and prising him out of a senior Celtic role would not be straightforward, but if Macmillan wants someone who already understands what Motherwell means, Hammell would jump at it.
Jimmy Thelin
Jimmy Thelin is the most decorated operator on this list, and the candidate Brian Caldwell might warm to if he wants someone who has already lifted silverware in Scotland.
The Swede led Aberdeen to their first Scottish Cup in 35 years last May, beating Celtic in the final at Hampden, before being sacked at Pittodrie in January with the Dons sitting eighth in the Premiership.
He arrived in Scotland in 2024 having taken provincial Swedish side IF Elfsborg to a second-placed Allsvenskan finish, and at 48 he is exactly the data-led, low-profile Scandinavian profile Daws and Caldwell built the entire Wimmer-then-Askou succession plan around.
Thelin told the Press and Journal earlier this month that he has already received "recent job offers" since the Aberdeen exit, and that his self-belief remains undented.
His comfort working within a sporting-director structure - he had Lutz Pfannenstiel at Aberdeen — should also appeal to a Motherwell board where Daws will sit upstairs above the head coach.
The Aberdeen experience may make him hold out for a bigger job south of the border, but at 9/2 he is the standout value play in this market for those backing Motherwell to fish in the same Scandinavian waters that produced Askou.
Scott Brown
Scott Brown is the headline appointment Motherwell don't normally make.
The former Celtic captain has been a free agent since leaving Ayr United by mutual consent at the end of March after an eight-game winless run, but the longer view of his CV is more flattering than the exit suggests.
A third-place Championship finish and a play-off run in 2024/25 at Somerset Park, a stint at Fleetwood Town in the English Football League before that, and a name that still carries instant authority in any Scottish dressing room he walks into.
Brown's experience playing in Europe with Celtic ticks an important box for a club preparing for a Conference League second-round qualifier in late July, and at 40 he represents a younger alternative to the experienced Scottish names on this list.
The flip side is that Motherwell's last two appointments - Michael Wimmer and Askou - were left-field, data-led picks rather than headline-grabbers, and there's no evidence the board has changed tack. But Brown would be a popular choice with supporters, and 6/1 looks fair.
Russell Martin
Russell Martin stepping into Fir Park would be the boldest call of all.
Sacked by Rangers in October 2025 after just 123 days - the shortest-serving permanent manager in the Ibrox club's 153-year history - Martin's reputation took a hit but his pre-Rangers credentials remain serious.
He led Southampton to promotion from the Championship in 2023/24 via the play-offs, anchored by a 25-match unbeaten run that surpassed a 103-year-old club record dating back to 1920/21.
Tactically, Martin's possession-heavy, line-breaking, ball-playing identity is almost a carbon copy of what Askou had Motherwell doing this season - which makes the fit on paper obvious.
He's also a former teammate of Askou from their Norwich City days, which gives Daws a back channel to understand exactly what the squad has been working on.
He's currently being linked with Watford and an EFL salary will be hard to compete with, but if Martin wants the right environment to rebuild his stock, Fir Park is genuinely it.
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