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'I estimate that the chances of us transforming our fortunes are lower than Leicester winning the Premier League, so they are in our benefit, right?' Christian Fuchs is talking about his recent venture as head coach of the Football League's bottom club, and the immense task of staving off a fall into non-league football. This represents a challenge at the polar opposite of the scale, though that unbelievable title win in 2016 provided him with much more than a winner's medal. {'It contributed to shifting my mindset a little bit ... it proved that the unattainable can be attainable,' he notes.

The Illogical Path to Rodney Parade

The natural place to start is: what brought Fuchs end up here? 'I suppose that's the part that's not logical, right?' he comments, letting out a chuckle. It is the 39-year-old's opening gambit and a clear indication of his engaging character across a colourful conversation. The discussion flows in different directions, from playing for Thomas Tuchel and Brendan Rodgers to the urgent quest to find a nearby hairdresser.

He sorts through some mail on his desk. There is a message from a Leicester supporter wishing him well, along with a couple of glossy photos from that season. {'Young Fuchs,' he muses, grinning. Another envelope brings a hoard of old stickers, one from an album celebrating Euro 2016, when he captained Austria. A card from the Newport Supporters’ Club is given special attention. Things like this really makes me very content,' he concludes.

A Prior Encounter and a Funny Mistake

Until returning from North Carolina to accept his first job in senior management last month, Fuchs’s last trip to Rodney Parade was in January 2019, when Leicester suffered a Newport cupset in the FA Cup third round. On that occasion a former full-back duelled against Fuchs. {'He had the match of his life,' Fuchs says. But when the lineup cards were released, an curious error was discovered. {'You need to edit this,' Fuchs remarks. 'They misspelled my name – somehow a 'k' smuggled itself in in place of the 'h'. It is hilarious because Fuchs, in German, means fox, so it’s something nice.'

Insights from The Tinkerman, Rodgers and Tuchel

His choice to join the Foxes in the summer of 2015 turned out to be inspired. A couple of weeks later Leicester appointed Claudio Ranieri and what followed is legendary. The Italian arrived at the club in the midst of a pre-season camp in Austria and his light-touch approach worked wonders. {'When you look at Claudio you envision an older man, so experienced in the game, maybe a bit traditional, but he’s anything but,' Fuchs says. {'He just said he was going to watch training in Austria for the first week. He stayed out of it at all. After that week we had a meeting and he said: 'I’ve studied you for a week and I’m not going to alter anything.''

Fuchs cherishes experiences from Rodgers and Tuchel, under whom he worked while on loan at Mainz. {'He always pondered: ‘How can I get extra out of the players? How can I challenge them psychologically?’’ Fuchs says of Tuchel. {'That’s a significant part of our philosophy as well. How can you make good players who choose wisely? Back then he was probably in a analogous place to where I am now … very driven, very keen to prove himself.'

Origins and a Determined Nature

Fuchs’s motivation comes from his upbringing 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 defeat them or there are people who say: ‘Forget you, I’m going to show you.’ I’ve been told too many times: ‘You can not do this, you can not do that.’ I’m going to prove that I can and give absolutely everything. The other thing about my personality is: I’m pretty determined. If I see promise, I’m making it happen.'

Data-Driven Approach and the Battle for Survival

Fuchs’s assistant, Mark Smith, was born in Newport and previously led Fuchs’s Fox Soccer Academy. Fuchs boots up his laptop to show statistics from a recent 2-2 draw, sharing a slide he used with his players. {'The team hit several season peaks,' he says, noting ball progression and statistics about penetrating defensive lines. Passing accuracy was shown as 87%. {'Not satisfied with that … that needs to be in the mid-90s,' he declares. {'My first game, it was very long-ball, lower-league football, but we want to be distinct. I think a five-yard pass has a higher probability to be successful than just going long all the time.'

The broader numbers paint sobering reading. Newport have won three of 19 league matches and are yet to win in eight in all competitions. By the time of their next home game, they will have not tasted victory at home for 273 days and have kept just two clean sheets in 26 matches this season. But a recent 93rd-minute equaliser with 10 men secured a valuable point. {'We need to be a dominant side at home,' Fuchs emphasizes. {'It’s just not satisfactory, not even having a win. We need to create a stronghold.'

One of the Lads at Heart

By his own admission, Fuchs relishes a challenge. {'What’s so wrong with that?' He ended his playing career less than three years ago and, like Tuchel, enjoys being in the thick of things. {'I’m a member of the group. I’m still a player inside,' he says, tapping his chest. {'At training I’m always joining in in the drills – two pannas already, brilliant! I want us to regard each other as a single unit. Yes, you’re the ones on the field, but we’re all in this together, we’re striving towards this collectively.'