Rodgers won’t say sorry after sexism row

BRENDAN RODGERS refused to apologise yesterday after being accused of casual sexism for saying ‘good girl’ to BBC reporter Jane Lewis. The Celtic manager was branded a ‘dinosaur’ by the Scottish Feminist Network for his comment after a terse interview with Lewis following his side’s win over Motherwell on Sunday. But Rodgers revealed he had spoken to the reporter and blamed cancel culture for the backlash.

He said: ‘I’ve spoken to Jane and she wasn’t offended, we had a laugh about it. She’ll continue to ask me awkward questions I’m sure, but I see her every week. We’ve got good relations, like I have with most people in my life, whether that’s professional or social. ‘I find it saddening as much as anything, I’m not that type of person, it’s not who I am or how I’m built. But sadly in society now, people are just looking and trying to find ways to somehow bring you down if they can and that’s not nice.’ Lewis, 53, also broke her silence, saying: ‘Clearly, the interview has become a talking point. I don’t believe there was any offence meant by Brendan Rodgers — and for my part, there was none taken.’ Rodgers, 51, reiterated that he did not feel he was at fault. ‘With any journalist, I’ve always offered a warmth, respect, been courteous and offered time to people,’ he added. ‘That will never change.’ Rodgers was also keen to cite a recent example of him using a woman as inspiration for his Celtic players.

He said: ‘The irony of it all is, I shared with players not long ago the story of Jessica Watson. She was a young woman, 16, who travelled around the world solo on a boat and the documentary I watched was really inspiring.

‘ True Spirit it was called — and I shared that with the players in terms of the inspiration they could take from a young woman like that, what she’d been through.’