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'I would say that the chances of us turning the season around are lower than Leicester lifting the Premier League, so they are in our favor, right?' Christian Fuchs is talking about his fresh chapter as head coach of the League Two strugglers, and the immense task of preventing a drop into non-league football. This represents a challenge at the polar opposite of the spectrum of success, though that unbelievable title win in 2016 gave him a great deal more than a champion's gong. {'It helped change my mindset a little bit ... it proved that the unthinkable can be achievable,' he notes.

'How Did Fuchs Wind Up Here?'

The natural place to start is: what was the journey that led Fuchs find himself here? 'I suppose that's the part that's illogical, right?' he says, letting out a laugh. It is the 39-year-old's opening gambit and a clear indication of his charismatic character across a fascinating conversation. The discussion flows in various tangents, from working under Thomas Tuchel and the former Leicester manager to the pressing need to find a nearby hairdresser.

He looks at some post on his desk. Included is a letter from a Leicester supporter wishing him well, along with a couple of shiny pictures from that campaign. {'Young Fuchs,' he says, smiling. Another package brings a hoard of old stickers, one from an album marking Euro 2016, when he captained Austria. A card from the Newport Supporters’ Club is given special attention. Items like this really makes me very happy,' he states.

A Previous Visit and a Funny Mistake

Until his move back from North Carolina to accept his first job in senior management last month, Fuchs’s previous visit to Rodney Parade was in January 2019, when Leicester suffered a Newport cupset in the FA Cup third round. That day David Pipe duelled against Fuchs. {'He had the match of his career,' Fuchs says. But when the teamsheets dropped, an amusing error emerged. {'You need to edit this,' Fuchs says with a smile. 'They misspelt my name – somehow a 'k' smuggled itself in in place of the 'h'. It is funny because Fuchs, in German, means fox, so it’s something pleasant.'

Lessons from The Tinkerman, Rodgers and Tuchel

His decision to join the Foxes in the summer of 2015 proved brilliant. A couple of weeks later Leicester appointed Claudio Ranieri and what followed is legendary. The Italian arrived at the club in the middle of a pre-season camp in Austria and his hands-off approach produced miracles. {'When you look at Claudio you envision an older man, so a veteran of the sport, maybe a bit old school, but he’s so not,' Fuchs says. {'He just said he was going to observe training in Austria for the first week. He remained on the sidelines at all. After that week we had a meeting and he said: 'I’ve watched you for a week and I’m not going to change anything.''

Fuchs values lessons learned from Rodgers and Tuchel, under whom he worked while on loan at Mainz. {'He always thought: ‘How can I get extra out of the players? How can I push them psychologically?’’ Fuchs says of Tuchel. {'That’s a major part of our methodology as well. How can you make good decision-makers? Back then he was probably in a comparable position to where I am now … very motivated, very eager to prove himself.'

Roots and a Determined Nature

Fuchs’s drive originates in his early years in Neunkirchen. {'There are comparisons to where we are now, because I was told when I was 11 years old that I would never be skilled enough,' he reveals. {'There are people who let that get the better of them or there are people who say: ‘Watch me, I’m going to show you.’ I’ve been told too many times: ‘You cannot do this, you cannot do that.’ I’m going to demonstrate that I can and work my socks off. The other thing about my personality is: I’m pretty determined. If I see potential, I’m going for it.'

Analytical Approach and the Struggle for Survival

Fuchs’s assistant, Mark Smith, was born in Newport and had been in charge of Fuchs’s Fox Soccer Academy. Fuchs fires up his laptop to show statistics from a recent 2-2 draw, sharing a slide he used with his players. {'The team hit numerous season peaks,' he says, emphasizing ball progression and statistics about penetrating defensive lines. Passing accuracy was logged at 87%. {'Not pleased with that … that needs to be in the 90-95% range,' he insists. {'My first game, it was very physical, fourth-tier football, but we want to be unique. I think a five-yard pass has a higher probability to find its target than just going long all the time.'

The general numbers present grim reading. Newport have won three of 19 league matches and are winless in eight in all competitions. By the time of their next home game, they will have not won a game at home for 273 days and have kept just two clean sheets in 26 matches this season. But a recent last-gasp equaliser with 10 men garnered a valuable point. {'We need to be a dominant side at home,' Fuchs emphasizes. {'It’s just not good enough, not even having a win. We need to construct a impenetrable home.'

In the Thick of It at Heart

By his own acknowledgement, Fuchs relishes a challenge. {'What’s so bad with that?' He hung up his boots less than three years ago and, like Tuchel, loves being in the heart of the battle. {'I’m a part of the group. I’m still a player in here,' he remarks, indicating his chest. {'At training I’m always participating in the boxes – two pannas already, brilliant! I want us to view each other as a unified group. Yes, you’re the ones on the field, but we’re all in this together, we’re striving towards this together.'