Rodgers under fire for ‘good girl’ remark
CELTIC manager Brendan Rodgers has come under fire from women’s groups after saying ‘good girl’ to a BBC Scotland reporter at the end of a terse postmatch interview. Jane Lewis, 53, had asked Rodgers to explain himself after he told her that, in terms of the title race, ‘the story has already been written about this group, but we will write our own story’. The exchange between the pair was broadcast on the Sportsound radio programme following Sunday’s dramatic 3-1 win over Motherwell. When she asked him to elaborate, he seemed unhappy with the line of questioning and said: ‘No, no, you know exactly what I mean.’ Lewis again pressed Rodgers to explain, but he appeared to wind up the interview and said: ‘Done, good girl, well done.’
Lewis, a broadcast professional with decades of experience, has not commented on the matter.
The Celtic boss has so far resisted calls to apologise to Lewis. The BBC have also remained silent on the matter.
Broadcaster Eamonn Holmes rushed to Rodgers’s defence, insisting he was using a common Northern Irish turn of phrase.
Holmes told GB News: ‘He meant good girl. Brendan Rodgers is from Carnlough in Northern Ireland. We say “good girl” all the time. We are admonished for it all the time because it’s not contemporary. I can honestly tell you that Northern Irish people will say “good girl, good boy and good lad”.’
Campaigners at the For Women Scotland organisation accused the Celtic boss, 51, of ‘casual sexism’.
A spokeswoman from the Scottish Feminist Network said: ‘Jane Lewis was just doing her job, trying to extract an explanation from Brendan Rodgers on his cryptic comment.
‘That the go-to attitude was condescension is quite illuminating, but really very depressing in 2024. We thought dinosaurs were extinct.’
Campaigners at For Women Scotland called on Rodgers to apologise.
Celtic chose not to comment when contacted by the Mail.