England's football manager Roy Hodgson has publicly apologised to Manchester United's defender Rio Ferdinand after a private conversation about the demise of the defender's international career became public.
Hodgson is alleged to have told fellow passengers on a London Tube train on his way to Emirates Stadium for Arsenal's Champions League game midweek that he would not select Ferdinand again.
His words soon made it onto the back pages.
Hodgson did leave Ferdinand out of his squad for World Cup qualifiers against San Marino and Poland, but admitted he owed the veteran centre-back an apology.
He says what happened innocently is one of the hazards of travelling on tube trains, but that's his preferred mode of travel when he goes to London.
