The Black Country outfit looked to be heading for a sixth successive defeat on Saturday before late goals from Kevin Doyle and Jamie O'Hara rescued a point against Swansea. But during the game the home fans voiced their discontent and they were less than happy with late changes as both Adam Hammill and Matt Jarvis were withdrawn. However, Johnson insists that McCarthy is the right man for the job and should not be receiving the criticism he is. "He knows very well what he's doing because he is an exceptional manager who has done great things for this club," insisted Johnson. "And as for the sack, we can only hope the board wasn't listening to that sort of thing because it was below the belt. They should stick by the boss and point the finger where it belongs - at us, the players. "We were struggling because confidence was low after five defeats on the bounce but the gaffer changed things, we scored twice to end that run and we got a point. "They booed when he made the changes but I hope they are looking at what happened and asking themselves honestly who was right in the end. "Fans are fickle and in the gaffer's case they have short memories. He was a hero when we started the side with three wins on the trot and when he kept the club up last season. Yet here they are calling for him to be sacked. "They can have a pop at me, no problem, because I'm not up to scratch at the moment and accept that I need to start doing the job I was brought in for. "You have to accept a bit of hostility when you are making mistakes, but the sort of things aimed at the boss were not nice to hear when you know how much work he puts into the club." Goalscoring hero O'Hara also backed his boss, especially over the late changes which he felt played a major part in them getting back on level terms. "The fans didn't like the changes but they had the desired effect, enabling me to push further up and be in the right place to score. That's not luck. That's good management," he said. "I'm not looking to be known as the man whose goal saved the boss' job but I'll be very happy if ending that bad run proves to be a turning point and we've heard the last about any sackings. "Personally, I'd hate to see him leave because he's shown a lot of faith in me."
