The manager is the only one accountable, bemoans Hill

Apart from Rotherham United’s Andy Scott – who could yet be sacked if the Millers fail to make the League Two play-offs – Hill is the longest serving manager in the county. He joined the Tykes last summer and the club are firmly on course to achieve the target of Championship survival.

With 13 games to play, the Tykes are 14 points clear of the relegation zone but Hill takes nothing for granted. “You never feel on solid ground as a manager,” he told the Yorkshire Post. “There are a million and one people who work at a football club but the only one who is ever blamed or takes credit is the manager.

“Unfortunately, the axe only falls on one person’s head. He won’t be solely responsible for what’s happened, but he is the only one who is accountable.”

The departure of Gary Megson from Sheffield Wednesday this week took the number of managerial changes in Yorkshire this season to six.

Commenting on Megson’s sacking, Hill said: “Sometimes, you just wonder whether club owners or boards of directors ever remember why they employed a manager in the first place.

“When you sit down in that room and agree to take a job, targets are outlined, you are given a true identity of what is and what is not achievable, you discuss the financial implications on the football club and what you can bring as manager to the table in pursuit of realising the ambitions of the owners.

“For me, Gary Megson was employed to get Sheffield Wednesday re-promoted. His first season was a transitional period, he was getting to know his players and what he needed, but this season was the season when they had a chance of getting promoted.

“Have they still got a chance of getting promoted? Without question. So he has managed to give Wednesday, the supporters, and the owners what he promised in the interview process with Milan Mandaric. I find it ridiculously sad that he has lost his job when the club is sat in third place.”

Hill, whose side host Nottingham Forest tomorrow, insists he does not ‘live in fear of the sack’ and has a healthy relationship with Barnsley owner Patrick Cryne.

“I don’t fear for my job or my future – whether at Barnsley or any football club,” he said.

“I work extremely hard and I have no fear. Patrick Cryne has been absolutely superb. He’s very supportive and very understanding. We set out an agenda and we are on target to achieve that.”