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'I estimate that the odds of us turning the season around are slimmer than Leicester claiming the Premier League, so they are in our favor, right?' Christian Fuchs is talking about his fresh chapter as boss of the League Two strugglers, and the immense task of staving off a descent into non-league football. It is a challenge at the polar opposite of the scale, though that miraculous title win in 2016 provided him with far more than a Premier League trophy. {'It contributed to shifting my outlook a little bit ... it showed that the unattainable can be attainable,' he notes.

The Unlikely Path to Rodney Parade

The obvious place to start is: what was the journey that led Fuchs end up here? 'That's the part of the story that isn't straightforward, wouldn't you say?' he says, breaking into a chuckle. It is the 39-year-old's initial statement and a clear sign of his engaging character across a wide-ranging conversation. Discourse travels in multiple pathways, from being managed by the current England boss and the former Leicester manager to the immediate requirement to find a local barber.

He opens some correspondence on his desk. There is a note from a Leicester supporter offering encouragement, paired with a couple of professional photographs from that memorable year. {'Young Fuchs,' he muses, grinning. Another delivery 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. Things like this makes me very pleased,' he states.

A Prior Encounter and a Funny Mistake

Until returning from North Carolina to assume his first job in frontline management last month, Fuchs’s previous visit to Rodney Parade was in January 2019, when Leicester suffered a Newport shock defeat in the FA Cup third round. That day the Newport kit man faced off against Fuchs. {'He had the performance of his life,' Fuchs says. But when the official sheets came out, an amusing error was discovered. {'You need to edit this,' Fuchs remarks. 'They got wrong my name – somehow a 'k' smuggled itself in in place of the 'h'. It is amusing because Fuchs, in German, means fox, so it’s something nice.'

Experiences from Claudio, Rodgers and Tuchel

His move to join the Foxes in the summer of 2015 was inspired. A couple of weeks later Leicester appointed Claudio Ranieri and the rest is history. The Italian joined the club in the middle of a pre-season camp in Austria and his light-touch approach did the trick. {'When you see Claudio you imagine an seasoned professional, so a veteran of the sport, maybe a bit traditional, but he’s the complete opposite,' Fuchs says. {'He just said he was going to monitor training in Austria for the first week. He didn’t get involved 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 holds dear lessons learned from Rodgers and Tuchel, under whom he worked while on loan at Mainz. {'He always pondered: ‘How can I get additional out of the players? How can I test them mentally?’’ Fuchs says of Tuchel. {'That’s a big part of our methodology as well. How can you make good players who choose wisely? Back then he was probably in a comparable position to where I am now … very motivated, very keen to prove himself.'

Roots and a Resolute Character

Fuchs’s motivation originates in his childhood 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: ‘Forget 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 prove that I can and give absolutely everything. The other thing about my personality is: I’m quite headstrong. If I see possibility, 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 opens his laptop to show statistics from a recent 2-2 draw, presenting a slide he presented to his players. {'The team hit numerous season peaks,' he says, noting ball progression and statistics about breaking defensive lines. Passing accuracy was logged at 87%. {'Not pleased with that … that needs to be in the 90-95% range,' he states. {'My first game, it was very direct, League Two football, but we want to be different. I think a five-yard pass has a higher percentage to find its target than just launching it all the time.'

The general numbers present sobering reading. Newport have secured 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 secured a crucial point. {'We need to be a power at home,' Fuchs stresses. {'It’s just not good enough, not even having a win. We need to build a stronghold.'

In the Thick of It at Heart

By his own admission, Fuchs enjoys a challenge. {'What’s so bad 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 remarks, tapping his chest. {'At training I’m always joining in in the boxes – two megs already, brilliant! I want us to regard each other as a single unit. Yes, you’re the ones on the field, but we’re one team, we’re working on this collectively.'