The English FA's decision to appoint Roy Hodgson as manager of the country's football team came as a surprise. The West Bromwich Albion manager's record is solid, but Tottenham Hotspur boss Harry Redknapp had become the clear favourite for the role, upon the resignation of previous England manager Fabio Capello earlier this year. 

Meltwater Group has analysed the online response to the appointment, using its social media intelligence and marketing platform Meltwater Buzz. While the hire was announced on 1 May, speculation began to mount on 29 April, with many expressing surprise and disappointment at the choice.

However, opinion soons becomes split more evenly, with positive and negative sentiment remaining closely tied. A neutral view soon becomes most popular, with many users, unsurprisingly, opting to reserve judgement. As expected, the online conversations was dominated by men (81 percent), predominately 18-to-24 year olds, who used Twitter as the main channel for expressing their opinions.