Fury at ‘dinosaur’ Celtic boss over ‘good girl’ remark aimed at BBC interviewer
FURIOUS women’s groups have demanded Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers apologise after he wrapped up an interview with a BBC reporter by calling her “good girl”.
The football boss, 51, was accused of being a “dinosaur” for his remark to BBC Scotland’s Jane Lewis after Celtic’s 3-1 win at Motherwell on Sunday.
Campaigners have accused the Northern Irishman of being “demeaning” to Ms Lewis.
For Women Scotland said: “It’s depressing that casual sexism is still embedded in sport.
“Women’s achievements are underrated and dismissed, and their professional status undermined.
Rodgers owes the reporter an apology.”
The Scottish Feminist Network said: “Rodgers’ throwaway comment encourages other football fans to behave in a similar way, demeaning women they work with or engage with. It has to stop. Jane Lewis was just doing her job, trying to extract an explanation from Rodgers on his cryptic comment.
“That the go-to attitude of a manager of a winning team was condescension is quite illuminating but really very depressing in 2024. We thought dinosaurs were extinct.” Ms Lewis had asked the Celtic boss to comment on the Scottish Premiership title race. He said: “The story has already been written about this group. But we will write our own story.” She said: “Can you give us a bit more insight into that and what you mean?” Rodgers replied: “No, no, you know exactly what I mean.” The journalist then replied: “I’m actually not sure exactly what you mean.”
He then appeared to wrap up the interview by saying: “Done, good girl, well done.”
A source close to the 53-year-old broadcaster, inset, said she was “not fazed at all” by Rodgers’ remarks and was more frustrated that he cut short their interview.
Football presenter Jeff Stelling said: “Good girl, good girl? Goodness me, Brendan. What does he mean? In this day and age, it’s just the sort of thing you can’t say.”
Celtic have yet to comment. The BBC has said it will not be commenting.