Win or bust is Alex Neil’s motto in the hazardous Championship

Norwich City chief Alex Neil insists the only way to avoid being sucked into the crazy Championship sack race is to keep on winning.

Ian Holloway became the 15th manager in the second tier to lose his job this season just days after the Canaries' thumping 4-1 league win at the Den.

Neil himself replaced Neil Adams when the club's former FA Youth Cup winning-coach stepped aside, and seven victories in his last eight have guided City firmly into promotion contention and seen the Scot crowned manager-of-the-month for February.

'The one thing we all know as managers is its the little slight things that put you off track,' he said. 'You look at (Carlo) Ancelotti for instance, at Real Madrid, they went something like 30 games unbeaten and they were touted as the best in the world and he was the best manager in the world, now people are talking about him being sacked and he won the league and the Champions League last year. It just shows.

'Everything is based on results. It doesn't matter how you play, if you win games, you will be fine, if you don't you won't.'

Neil is not surprised by the volatility in the Championship.

'There is so much at stake and you are right on the precipice in this league,' he said. 'If you are a big club coming down, like a Fulham or a Cardiff or a Wigan, you are expected right away, as we are, to bounce back right away because you have a Premier League squad.

'If you are at the top end of the Championship trying to get back there the rewards for owners and boards are huge. It is difficult in that situation for clubs to show managers the patience to say build something over the next one, two, three years and that is ultimately what it is.'