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'I would say that the chances of us turning the season around are slimmer than Leicester lifting the Premier League, so they are in our favor, right?' Christian Fuchs is discussing his new life as manager of the Football League's bottom club, and the daunting task of staving off a fall into non-league football. It is a challenge at the complete other end of the spectrum of success, though that miraculous title win in 2016 gave him a great deal more than a champion's gong. {'It contributed to shifting my perspective a little bit ... it demonstrated that the impossible can be achievable,' he remarks.

The Surprising Path to Rodney Parade

The logical place to start is: how did Fuchs find himself here? 'That's the aspect of the story that isn't straightforward, wouldn't you say?' he comments, erupting in laughter. This serves as the 39-year-old's introductory line and a clear demonstration of his playful character across a fascinating conversation. Discourse travels in various tangents, from being managed by the current England boss and the former Leicester manager to the immediate requirement to find a barber in the area.

He looks at some post on his desk. Included is a note from a Leicester supporter wishing him well, accompanied by a couple of shiny pictures from that campaign. {'Young Fuchs,' he remarks, smiling. Another delivery brings a collection of old Panini stickers, one from an album commemorating Euro 2016, when he led Austria. A card from the Newport Supporters’ Club has pride of place. Things like this really makes me very content,' he adds.

A Prior Encounter and a Funny Mistake

Until returning from North Carolina to take on his first job in senior management last month, Fuchs’s most recent encounter to Rodney Parade was in January 2019, when Leicester endured a Newport giantkilling in the FA Cup third round. During that match the Newport kit man duelled against Fuchs. {'He had the match of his life,' Fuchs admits. But when the teamsheets dropped, an interesting error was discovered. {'You need to edit this,' Fuchs remarks. 'They got wrong my name – somehow a 'k' found its way in in place of the 'h'. It is funny because Fuchs, in German, means fox, so it’s something nice.'

Experiences from Ranieri, Rodgers and Tuchel

His move to join the Foxes in the summer of 2015 was brilliant. A couple of weeks later Leicester hired Claudio Ranieri and the rest is history. The Italian arrived at the club in the middle of a pre-season camp in Austria and his hands-off approach did the trick. {'When you look at Claudio you picture an older man, so long in the business, maybe a bit set in his ways, but he’s the complete opposite,' Fuchs says. {'He just said he was going to observe 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 observed you for a week and I’m not going to alter anything.''

Fuchs cherishes insights gained from Rodgers and Tuchel, under whom he worked while on loan at Mainz. {'He always thought: ‘How can I get additional out of the players? How can I push them psychologically?’’ Fuchs says of Tuchel. {'That’s a big part of our philosophy as well. How can you make good thinkers on the pitch? Back then he was probably in a similar situation to where I am now … very motivated, very anxious to prove himself.'

Roots and a Resolute Nature

Fuchs’s motivation comes from 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 good enough,' he reveals. {'There are people who let that overcome them or there are people who say: ‘Forget you, I’m going to show you.’ I’ve been told too many times: ‘You can't do this, you can not do that.’ I’m going to show that I can and give absolutely everything. The other thing about my personality is: I’m pretty headstrong. If I see promise, I’m making it happen.'

Analytical Approach and the Fight for Survival

Fuchs’s assistant, Mark Smith, was born in Newport and had been in charge of Fuchs’s Fox Soccer Academy. Fuchs boots up his laptop to show data from a recent 2-2 draw, presenting a slide he presented to his players. {'The team hit numerous season bests,' he says, noting ball progression and statistics about breaking defensive lines. Passing accuracy was shown as 87%. {'Not satisfied with that … that needs to be in the mid-90s,' he states. {'My first game, it was very long-ball, lower-league football, but we want to be unique. I think a five-yard pass has a higher chance to arrive than just going long all the time.'

The general numbers make sobering reading. Newport have managed three of 19 league matches and are without a victory 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 93rd-minute equaliser with 10 men secured a precious point. {'We need to be a force at home,' Fuchs stresses. {'It’s just not acceptable, not even having a win. We need to build a fortress.'

In the Thick of It at Heart

By his own acknowledgement, Fuchs enjoys a challenge. {'What’s so bad with that?' He ended his playing career less than three years ago and, like Tuchel, loves being in the middle of the action. {'I’m a member of the group. I’m still a player inside,' he states, tapping his chest. {'At training I’m always getting involved in the boxes – two nutmegs 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 as one.'