Could Celtic's next manager be right on their doorstep?

Should Celtic be seriously looking at appointing Motherwell manager Jens Berthel Askou in the summer?

The Dane has transformed the Steelmen in his debut season at Fir Park, with fourth-place Motherwell only four points behind Celtic and 10 off Hearts with a game in hand on the league leaders.

Askou's side have only lost three games this season - fewer than both Celtic and Hearts - and have been impressing with their style of football.

"He's outcoached basically the full division at times this year," former Celtic midfielder Scott Allan told the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast.

"It's a remarkable job he's done there. When you have the foundations and then you add the X factor, which is the style of play, the control and the goals, they are not an easy game for anybody in the league."

Celtic will look to fill their managerial vacancy at the end of the season when Martin O'Neill steps away from his second caretaker spell.

"Part of the problem is that everything about the club is interim," Herald football writer Stephen McGowan said.

"The chairman [Brian Wilson] is interim, the manager is interim, the recruitment team are interim, half the team are interim as well.

"They need permanent solutions and that requires leadership."

And McGowan suggested Celtic should be making a beeline for Motherwell boss Aksou.

"They're back on 18 June for pre-season training and there's no time to waste," he added.

"You can't be waiting for the end of the World Cup to see if Roberto Martinez will take the job. I think Celtic need to move fairly quickly and the obvious and easy way to do that is to go to Motherwell first and say we would like permission to speak to your manager.

"Get him in and get on with the business of rebuilding the squad with a manager who has proven himself in the Scottish Premiership."

If Celtic were to appoint Askou it would be the first time in over 30 years they've taken a boss from another Scottish club.

Back in 1994 former player Tommy Burns was named Celtic manager following a two-year spell with fellow top-flight side Kilmarnock.

"They've taken managers from Japan, from Norway, from MLS, I think it's probably time to look in their own doorstep," McGowan added.

"There's a guy there who's banging on the door and, despite the reservations of some supporters, I think there's a really strong case for Askou to be the next Celtic manager."