Brendan Rodgers on the touchline at Fir Park Stadium (Steve Welsh/PA Wire)
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has been laballed a “dinosaur” after making a sexist comment towards a female reporter at the end of a post-match interview.
Rodgers was speaking to BBC Scotland’s Jane Lewis after Celtic’s dramatic 3-1 Scottish Premiership comeback win at Motherwell.
In his answer which began the tense exchange, Rodgers said: “To get the win was important for us, psychologically, and for our football. It was another game to convince that when we play how we can play then the goals and creativity will be there. So I’m delighted for the players because like I’ve said, there’s a story been written about this group, so we will write our own story.”
He was irked when Lewis asked him to explain what he meant by “the story has already been written”. Asked to elaborate, Rodgers responded: “No, no, you know exactly what I mean.”
When Lewis asked again, Rodgers ended the interview, saying: “Are we done? Good girl, well done.”
The experienced Lewis was unfazed, but a spokesperson for 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.”
For Women Scotland called on Rodgers to apologise to Lewis, saying: “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.”
It is not Rodgers’ first run-in with BBC Scotland. On his return to Celtic last summer, the manager was unveiled to the media at a press conference, but BBC Scotland reporters were banned from the event following a critical article.
At the time, BBC Scotland said in a statement: “We’re sorry that Celtic did not allow us to access today’s media event. We are in discussions with the club in an effort to resolve the situation. BBC Scotland has asked Celtic for comment on the decision to deny the BBC access to the media conference and is awaiting a response.”
more to follow…
