Eamonn Holmes has stood up for his compatriot Brendan Rodgers as the Celtic boss faces criticism for ‘belittling’ comments made to a BBC reporter.
Rodgers has been urged to apologise by women’s groups after saying “good girl” to a BBC Scotland reporter at the end of a post-match interview.
The For Women Scotland organisation has accused him of “casual sexism” for the remark made to Jane Lewis.
Speaking on GB News, Eamonn said Rodgers doesn’t deserve the scrutiny he is currently being afforded.
Eamonn Holmes has commented on recent criticism for Brendan Rodgers
GB NEWS / GETTY
“He meant good girl”, he said.
“Brendan Rodgers is from Carnock in Northern Ireland. We say ‘good girl’ all the time.
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“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’.”
Co-host Isabel Webster waded in on the discussion to criticise the Celtic manager, accusing him of making a “belittling” comment.
“He sounds a bit annoyed and she is not a girl, she’s a woman”, she said.
The matter was discussed on GB News
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Brendan Rodgers made the comment after Celtic beat Motherwell on SundayGetty“You can see why it’s raised some eyebrows.”
Sports reporter Paul Coyle went on to add that being referred to as ‘good lad’ would also be patronising, something Eamonn did not agree with.
“I wouldn’t even think twice”, he responded.
The interview in question turned tense after the reporter asked Rodgers to elaborate on his title race comments.
“No, no, you know exactly what I mean”, he snapped back.
Asked again to explain, he appeared to wind up the interview and said: “Done, good girl, well done.”
A spokeswoman from 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.”