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'I estimate that the chances of us transforming our fortunes are less than Leicester winning the Premier League, so they are in our favour, right?' Christian Fuchs is talking about his new life as manager of the Football League's bottom club, and the daunting task of preventing a drop into non-league football. Here lies a challenge at the polar opposite of the spectrum of success, though that miraculous title win in 2016 provided him with much more than a champion's gong. {'It contributed to shifting my perspective a little bit ... it showed that the impossible can be achievable,' he states.

The Surprising Path to Rodney Parade

The natural place to start is: how did Fuchs end up here? 'I guess that's the part that's not logical, right?' he states, breaking into a chuckle. This remark acts as the 39-year-old's initial statement and a clear indication of his playful character across a wide-ranging conversation. Discourse travels in various tangents, from being managed by the current England boss and Brendan Rodgers to the pressing need to find a barber in the area.

He sorts through some correspondence on his desk. Among it is a letter from a Leicester supporter offering encouragement, paired with a couple of glossy photos from that season. {'Young Fuchs,' he muses, grinning. Another delivery brings a collection of old Panini stickers, one from an album commemorating Euro 2016, when he captained Austria. A card from the Newport Supporters’ Club is displayed prominently. 'Stuff like this genuinely makes me very pleased,' he adds.

A Prior Encounter and a Typographical Error

Until returning from North Carolina to assume his first job in senior management last month, Fuchs’s last trip to Rodney Parade was in January 2019, when Leicester endured a Newport shock defeat in the FA Cup third round. During that match David Pipe competed with Fuchs. {'He had the performance of his life,' Fuchs recalls. But when the lineup cards dropped, an curious error was discovered. {'You need to edit this,' Fuchs jokes. '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 nice.'

Lessons from Ranieri, Rodgers and Tuchel

His move to join the Foxes in the summer of 2015 proved a masterstroke. A couple of weeks later Leicester appointed Claudio Ranieri and an iconic story unfolded. The Italian joined the club in the middle of a pre-season camp in Austria and his observational approach worked wonders. {'When you see Claudio you imagine an seasoned professional, so experienced in the game, maybe a bit set in his ways, but he’s the complete opposite,' Fuchs states. {'He just said he was going to monitor 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 observed you for a week and I’m not going to modify anything.''

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

Roots and a Determined Nature

Fuchs’s drive comes from his childhood 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 overcome them or there are people who say: ‘Fuchs you, I’m going to show you.’ I’ve been told too many times: ‘You can not do this, you cannot do that.’ I’m going to demonstrate that I can and work my socks off. The other thing about my character is: I’m pretty determined. If I see potential, I’m going for it.'

Data-Driven Approach and the Struggle for Survival

Fuchs’s assistant, Mark Smith, was born in Newport and formerly ran Fuchs’s Fox Soccer Academy. Fuchs fires up his laptop to show analytics from a recent 2-2 draw, presenting a slide he presented to his players. {'The team hit many, many season highs,' he points out, highlighting ball progression and statistics about penetrating defensive lines. Passing accuracy was logged at 87%. {'Not happy with that … that needs to be in the mid-90s,' he states. {'My first game, it was very long-ball, League Two football, but we want to be distinct. I think a five-yard pass has a higher percentage to be successful than just launching it all the time.'

The overarching numbers present grim 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 garnered a valuable point. {'We need to be a power at home,' Fuchs emphasizes. {'It’s just not satisfactory, not even having a win. We need to create a stronghold.'

Still a Player at Heart

By his own acknowledgement, Fuchs enjoys a challenge. {'What’s so negative with that?' He ended his playing career less than three years ago and, like Tuchel, loves being in the thick of things. {'I’m a part of the group. I’m still a player in here,' he states, pointing to his chest. {'At training I’m always getting involved in the small-sided games – two nutmegs already, yes! I want us to view each other as one team. Yes, you’re the ones on the field, but we’re a collective, we’re working on this together.'