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'I would say that the likelihood of us turning the season around are less than Leicester winning the Premier League, so they are in our favor, right?' Christian Fuchs is discussing his recent venture as head coach of Newport County, and the immense task of averting a fall into non-league football. It is a challenge at the polar opposite of the spectrum, though that miraculous title win in 2016 furnished him far more than a winner's medal. {'It contributed to shifting my outlook a little bit ... it proved that the impossible can be achievable,' he remarks.

The Surprising Path to Rodney Parade

The natural place to start is: what was the journey that led Fuchs wind up here? 'I imagine that's the part that's not logical, right?' he comments, letting out a laugh. This remark acts as the 39-year-old's opening gambit and a clear sign of his engaging character across a wide-ranging conversation. Discourse runs in multiple pathways, from being managed by Thomas Tuchel and Brendan Rodgers to the immediate requirement to find a nearby hairdresser.

He opens some mail on his desk. There is a letter from a Leicester supporter offering encouragement, accompanied by a couple of shiny pictures from that memorable year. {'Young Fuchs,' he remarks, with a smile. Another envelope brings a stash of old stickers, one from an album commemorating Euro 2016, when he skippered Austria. A greeting from the Newport Supporters’ Club is displayed prominently. 'Stuff like this really makes me very content,' he adds.

A Prior Encounter and a Misspelt Name

Prior to coming back from North Carolina to assume his first job in frontline management last month, Fuchs’s last trip to Rodney Parade was in January 2019, when Leicester endured a Newport giantkilling in the FA Cup third round. During that match David Pipe competed with Fuchs. {'He had the game of his career,' Fuchs recalls. But when the lineup cards came out, an interesting error was discovered. {'You need to censor this,' Fuchs says with a smile. 'They got wrong my name – somehow a 'k' found its way in in place of the 'h'. It is amusing because Fuchs, in German, means fox, so it’s something fitting.'

Lessons from Claudio, Rodgers and Tuchel

His choice to join the Foxes in the summer of 2015 proved a masterstroke. A couple of weeks later Leicester brought in Claudio Ranieri and an iconic story unfolded. The Italian came to the club in the midst of a pre-season camp in Austria and his hands-off approach produced miracles. {'When you look at Claudio you imagine an older man, so experienced in the game, maybe a bit old school, but he’s anything but,' 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 observed you for a week and I’m not going to modify anything.''

Fuchs holds dear experiences 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 push them psychologically?’’ Fuchs says of Tuchel. {'That’s a significant part of our approach as well. How can you make good decision-makers? Back then he was probably in a similar situation to where I am now … very focused, very anxious to prove himself.'

Roots and a Resolute Nature

Fuchs’s motivation stems from his upbringing in Neunkirchen. {'There are similarities to where we are now, because I was told when I was 11 years old that I would never be skilled enough,' he discloses. {'There are people who let that overcome them or there are people who say: ‘Watch me, I’m going to show you.’ I’ve been told too many times: ‘You can not do this, you can't do that.’ I’m going to show that I can and put in the hard yards. The other thing about my personality is: I’m very stubborn. If I see potential, I’m making it happen.'

Detailed Approach and the Fight 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 data from a recent 2-2 draw, sharing a slide he used with his players. {'The team hit numerous season bests,' he says, 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 90-95% range,' he declares. {'My first game, it was very long-ball, fourth-tier football, but we want to be different. I think a five-yard pass has a higher probability to arrive than just hoofing it all the time.'

The general numbers make sobering reading. Newport have managed 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 secured three points at home for 273 days and have kept just two clean sheets in 26 matches this season. But a recent injury-time equaliser with 10 men earned a crucial point. {'We need to be a dominant side at home,' Fuchs says. {'It’s just not acceptable, not even having a win. We need to build a stronghold.'

Still a Player at Heart

By his own acknowledgement, Fuchs relishes a challenge. {'What’s so negative with that?' He hung up his boots less than three years ago and, like Tuchel, likes being in the thick of things. {'I’m a member of the group. I’m still a player in here,' he states, tapping his chest. {'At training I’m always getting involved in the boxes – two megs already, yes! I want us to regard each other as a unified group. Yes, you’re the ones on the field, but we’re one team, we’re striving towards this collectively.'