Brendan Rodgers defends himself after receiving backlash for referring to a BBC reporter as a “good girl”:

Brendan Rodgers defended himself after he was accused of being sexist in an interview with a female reporter after a Celtic game.

Brendan Rodgers, Celtic manager, has defended himself against allegations of sexism. He stated that society is now attempting to “find something offensive”. This comes after he ended an interview with BBC Sport reporter Jane Lewis by referring to her as a “good girl”.

Lewis had asked him to elaborate on his comments following Celtic’s Scottish Premiership victory over Motherwell in the final minute. The journalist later stated that she did not think Rodgers intended to offend her and was not upset by his words. However, women’s groups have spoken out against the Northern Irish coach’s actions.

The Scottish Feminist Network joked that they “thought dinosaurs were extinct” when referring to Rodgers. While For Women Scotland accused him of “casual sexism” and demanded an apology.

Rodgers is upset that this has become such a major issue. “I have spoken to Jane,” he said. “She wasn’t offended. We had a laugh about it, she will continue to ask me awkward questions, I’m sure. But I see her every week and we have good relations, like I have with most people in my life, whether that’s professional or social.

Lewis was unsure and continued: “I’m actually not sure I do know exactly what you mean. Can you tell us? People might be interested to know.”

Rodgers responded with a firm “No, no, no,” and Lewis went on to say, “But you’re the one that’s bringing that up, so can you not give us some more on it?”

Rodgers ended the conversation with, “Okay? Done. Good girl. Well done.”

The Scottish Feminist Network commented that “that the go-to attitude of a manager of a winning team was condescension is quite illuminating but really very depressing in 2024”.

“Sadly for me, in society now, we are either looking to offend or find something that is offensive to try and pin on to people.

“I find it saddening as much as anything because, one, I am not that type of person, I can never be that, it’s not how I’m built. But also it saddened me for society now because people are just trying to find ways to somehow bring you down if they can. It’s not nice.”

In the BBC interview, Rodgers appeared irritated after his team needed late goals from Adam Idah and Luis Palma to defeat Motherwell 3-1. Celtic’s win keeps them close to Rangers at the top of the league.

“There’s a story being written about this group, but we will write our own story,” Rodgers told Lewis.

Lewis then asked him, “You don’t want to give us a bit more insight into what you mean by that?” But Rodgers responded sharply, “You know exactly what I mean.”

In other news, Rodgers discloses a fresh injury blow