"He just gave me pure belief." Stephen Welsh said that about Jens Berthel Askou, and it is the line that explains why his Motherwell spell now looks like a turning point rather than a detour. The Scotland defender says the move felt far from glamorous at first, but the coaching he received there gave him clarity and recognition by the end of the season.
Celtic, Motherwell and the point where the path changed
Welsh spent 18 years at Celtic and made 70 senior appearances for the club. He also took a loan spell with Mechelen in Belgium before moving on, but his account of Celtic is really about competition and lost rhythm. He said the club kept signing centre-halves, and that made regular football difficult.
Motherwell looked like a step down on paper. Welsh does not pretend otherwise, saying the move to Motherwell "doesn't look the most brilliant move in the world", yet he credits Askou's detailed work for making the game feel simple and for changing how his career path turned out. That is the crux of it, and it fits the evidence in front of him, with Motherwell ninth in the Premiership on 8 points after 7 games.
Scotland are starting to trust him
Welsh now has three caps for Scotland, and those minutes have started to stack up. He has played 279 minutes across his latest five Scotland matches, including 90, 93, 96, 90 and 11 minutes, which is enough to suggest he is being used as more than a one-off call-up.
His own words after the win over North Macedonia were about relief and momentum. He said Scotland felt they could have scored five or six, and that getting the first win under their belt was a good feeling. He also called the defeat to Switzerland a "sore one", before adding that the squad showed how strong they are going into North Macedonia and need to keep building on that standard.
The upcoming fixture is Slovenia at Hampden at 19:45 BST, and that is the next chance for Welsh to turn this rise into a more settled international role.
Written by Sam Whitfield with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →
