Kjetil Knutsen would show ambition, Jens Berthel Askou is more likely

We need a change of direction on the park as well as off it, and results midweek further prove the man who can help us achieve that is Kjetil Knutsen…

Head coach Kjetil Knutsen of DK Bodo Glimt reacts during the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 League Phase MD6 match between Borussia Dortmund and FK Bodo/Glimt at BVB Stadion Dortmund on December 10, 2025 in Dortmund, Germany. (Photo by Christof Koepsel/Getty Images)

It’s glaringly obvious that we need a complete overhaul in the corridors of power of Celtic Park, but the product on the park is just as in much need of modernisation. Thursday night’s thumping at the hands of Stuttgart further highlighted the harsh reality of both of these points.

The two areas go hand in hand I suppose, and we need competent leaders in place to restructure the area that we all want to see major improvement, the area we all pay our money to watch, and that is the product on the park.

For that to happen we need a new coach, a man with proven tactical ability, one that will inject a fresh input into a side that is in serious decline.

That man for me is none other than Kjetil Knutsen. A few in the SMSM and our own support are clambering for Jens Berthel Askou, but as impressive as the Dane has been with Motherwell, who he’s got playing some great football whilst competing at the top end of the table, his fellow Scandinavian is the much more experienced and impressive candidate, and more importantly he has the record to back it up.

Jens Berthel Askou. Motherwell 1-1 theRangers. Scottish Premiership. Fir Park, 11 February 2026. Photo Vagelis Georgariou

Not just in domestic football, where he has turned Bodo/Glimt into the dominant force in Norwegian football, but also in the European front, which is an area that we are in major need of improvement.

Knutsen has led Bodo to the Champions League play offs on a modest budget, beating the likes of Manchester City and Atletico Madrid along the way, and on Thursday night he led his side to a 3-1 first leg home victory over Inter Milan.

That form is not just a flash in the pan, as he’s led the Norwegian side to some impressive European wins these last few years, indeed last year he led Bodo to the Europa League semi finals, and in doing so became the first Norwegian side to get that far in a European competition.

Nicolas Kuhn scores during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Knockout Play-off second leg match between FC Bayern München and Celtic FC at Allianz Arena on February 18, 2025 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)

Europe is an area we have struggled for far too long. Even under the dominant and successful leadership Brendan Rodgers and the just as impressive era under Ange Postecoglou, we had the odd decent result in the continent, but received our fair share of humbling defeats along the way.

Having a figure such as Knutsen leading us would change all that. Not just domestically but on a level we badly need to be improving, and that of course is on the European front.

57 year old Knutsen is known for having his sides superbly organised, and he would undoubtedly make us a much more competent and capable side at a higher level, something we’ve all been craving for quite some time.

Of course we need a change of direction off the park also, but we need to take one small step at a time, and hiring a competent and knowledgeable man such as Knutsen would be a great start in a badly required major rebuild of the club.

Peter Lawwell, Chairman of Celtic, Dermot Desmond, Non-Executive Director of Celtic, and Michael Nicholson, CEO of Celtic, are seen in attendance prior to the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and theRangers at Celtic Park on March 16, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

With an ambitious coach must come an equally as ambitious board not puppets of a old billionaire with a bigger ego that his own sizeable back balance who simply wants to milk the Celtic cash cow – the support – to store up cash for rainy days of his own making.

Knutsen is unlikely to see the appeal unless there’s a mindset change at Parkhead. That’s why we’ll probably get Jens Berthel Askou.

Just an Ordinary Bhoy

Celtic in the Thirties by Matt Corr. Click on image to order

We need a change of direction on the park as well as off it, and results midweek further prove the man who can help us achieve that is Kjetil Knutsen…

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