Editorial: Maybe better to stick to the limo, Roy

There must surely be something admirable about a public figure able to use public transport without affectation. The England football manager's decision to travel by Tube to Arsenal's Champions League match against Olympiakos is, therefore, to be applauded.

But, if it is difficult to imagine Roy Hodgson's patrician predecessor, Fabio Capello, sullying himself with anything so plebeian, it is trickier still to avoid the obvious downside of mixing with Joe and Josephine Public quite so freely. Indeed, just one unguarded remark to a commuter – plus pictures captured on a mobile phone – led to front-page headlines to the effect that the international career of Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United defender and one-time England captain) was over.

Perhaps, Mr Hodgson must have thought, there are advantages to the chauffeur-driven limo, after all.