Rodgers has come under fire for making a ‘good girl’ comment to a journalist following a prickly post match interview.
In response to criticism after his “good girl” remark made after a contentious post-match interview, Chris Sutton has stated that Brendan Rodgers is “rattled and cranky,” but he has disputed that the Celtics manager is sexist.
The words were Rodgers’ parting statement following his team’s 3-1 comeback victory over Motherwell. Though they intended to write their own, the Hoops manager had stated that a novel had already been written about his club this season. Upon being questioned about his meaning, Rodgers said the reporter was already aware of it and declined to respond, turning to leave.
Since then, he has come under fire for what appears to be sexism; the Scottish Feminist Network has dubbed him a “dinosaur.” Sutton, however, has defended the Northern Irishman, saying that it’s just the way he speaks and that during interviews, he has called male reporters “boy” and “lad”. On the Daily Mail’s It’s All Kicking Off podcast, he stated: “I work up here a lot, so I know the surroundings.”
“Brendan seems like a manager under duress up here. Right now, there’s a title race going on. And I believe that he might wake up this morning and acknowledge that perhaps he had erred. However, a lot of what I’ve read online claims that “it’s casual sexism.”
“I don’t think Jane Lewis is offended; in fact, I’ll come to that conclusion since it was a really fair question regarding the storyline. I mean, when I went to interview Brendan for Sky at the beginning of the season, he called me ‘lad’ a few times.
“He uses that language. He usually says something like “good man,” “good lad,” or something similar to some of the press guys after press briefings.
“I really think that we’re going down a dangerous route if that’s the way that Brendan speaks – and he’s always been very courteous with the press as far as I can see – if we’re trying to pin things on him in a certain way.”
Was it patronising? That is not something I will contest. However, this is a man who has returned to Celtic. He departed somewhat clouded. Everyone is aware of that. I found it quite brave of him to return and accept the position. It’s been an extremely challenging season since he took the position. Nothing has gone right in the Champions League. Glasgow comes in last. He is under pressure. Moreover, he might have been a little grumpy in his interviews.
Chris Sutton
“He came forward, had an interview, objected to the question, and that was that. Come on, though—if that’s how Brendan speaks, let’s not start reading too much into things that aren’t there. I was shocked to hear him refer to me as a lad. Things like this, where we’re searching for things that aren’t there, bother me.
He continued, “Managers emerge from games in extremely stressful situations; they are emotional and energised because they are so driven to succeed. “As far as I can tell, no other city in the football world is like Glasgow.”
“This man is being taken advantage of. This season, his Celtics squad hasn’t played to its potential. And I believe he senses it. That concludes the lengthy and brief explanation. Thus, we also need to comprehend that.
“I believe he is alarmed. There are several things. When you consider every facet of Celtic this season, the supporters are furious and ask, “Well, how are we in this position?” Celtic just released their financial results, which show that the team has £67 million in the bank.
“Brendan mentioned that they should have shown more bravery during the previous transfer window, but they didn’t. They are second in the league, which is, you know, the whole point of it. This season, their team hasn’t done well, and he is genuinely feeling the loss. And that’s the end of it. He returned with the intention of proving a point, but things haven’t worked out that way.
“I sort of defy anybody not to be feeling the pressure when you’re in Glasgow, whichever side you’re on.”
