26 February 2024 , 15:04
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Eamonn Holmes has defended Brendan Rodgers after the Celtic boss was accused of sexism for calling BBC reporter Jane Lewis a "good girl" during a tense interview.
Rodgers, 51, has been labelled a "dinosaur" by the Scottish Feminist Network, who felt the language used by the ex-Liverpool boss was deliberately condescending. So far, the current Celtic manager is yet to issue any sort of apology for the remark, which came after his side's 3-1 win away at Motherwell on Sunday afternoon.
The comment was aired as part of BBC Sport's coverage on their Sportsound radio programme. Like Rodgers, the broadcasting giants have not addressed the situation at the time of writing.
Someone who has, though, is former This Morning regular Holmes, who insisted Rodgers was simply using a turn of phrase commonly used in their shared home country of Northern Ireland. Speaking to GB News, Holmes was passionate in his stance that Rodgers has nothing to apologise for.
"He meant good girl," Holmes claimed. "Brendan Rodgers is from Carnock 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, good lad'.
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Rodgers' remark came after Lewis had requested he offer up more of an explanation regarding his claim that "the story has already been written about this group, but we will write our own story" while discussing the race for the Scottish Premier League title.
After being pressed for further comment, Rodgers decided to call time on the interview, but not before adding: "Done, good girl, well done." It soon caused a stir on social media, with fans and pundits questioning the Celtic manager's choice of language.
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Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers has been told to apologise (Getty Images)A spokeswoman from the Scottish Feminist Network explained: "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."
The Network's sentiment was shared by members of For Women Scotland, who publicly urged Rodgers to apologise for his comment. It added: "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."
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