Former Norwich striker Dean Ashton wants fans to back Alex Neil rather than ask for the Canaries boss to be sacked

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The Canaries now find themselves in the Premier League’s relegation zone.

Dean Ashton has urged Norwich City supporters to get behind manager Alex Neil, rather than ask for the Canaries boss to be given the boot, the Daily Record reports.

The club have suffered six consecutive defeats in all competitions, and now find themselves in the Premier League’s relegation zone. But Ashton insisted that the fans need to get behind the team rather than put pressure on the board to part company with the manager.

“Calling for the manager to be sacked is something I don’t see the point in. Fans have got to try and look at the positives. It’s a winnable game on Saturday against West Ham and if Norwich play as well as they can, and have done, they could find themselves out of the relegation zone,” he told the Record.

“There’s no point in anybody wallowing. When you’re battling relegation you know you have to somehow get over the defeats as quickly as you can and move onto the next game because it could be the one which provides the win which lifts confidence.”

The frustration surrounding their current run was undoubtedly compounded by their most recent defeat, which came at the hands of the division’s bottom side Aston Villa. Remi Garde’s men had only won twice in the top flight all season before the game, and with Newcastle beating West Brom on the same day, the loss sent Norwich into the bottom three.

Nevertheless, it would arguably be unfair for Neil to be sacked based on one poor run. The former Hamilton boss guided the club to promotion last season, despite only taking over in January when the team was outside the Championship’s top six.

And while disgruntled Canaries supporters will suggest that Neil’s appointment proves changing manager mid-season can benefit the team enormously, and thus, a change should be considered once again, the last time the club appointed a new head coach during the season while they were in the top flight proved to be much less successful, as Neil Adams’ return of one point from five games after replacing Chris Hughton confirmed the club’s relegation.