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'I would say that the chances of us reviving our campaign are less than Leicester claiming the Premier League, so they are in our favor, right?' Christian Fuchs is talking about his recent venture as boss of the Football League's bottom club, and the daunting task of preventing a drop into non-league football. It is a challenge at the complete other end of the spectrum of success, though that fairytale title win in 2016 furnished him a great deal more than a champion's gong. {'It helped change my outlook a little bit ... it showed that the unthinkable can be achievable,' he remarks.

'How Did Fuchs End Up Here?'

The obvious place to start is: how did Fuchs wind up here? 'That's the part of the story that defies logic, wouldn't you say?' he states, erupting in a laugh. This serves as the 39-year-old's opening gambit and a clear demonstration of his playful character across a wide-ranging conversation. Our talk runs in various tangents, from working under Thomas Tuchel and Brendan Rodgers to the urgent quest to find a nearby hairdresser.

He sorts through some mail on his desk. Among it is a message from a Leicester supporter offering encouragement, along with a couple of glossy photos from that campaign. {'Young Fuchs,' he remarks, with a smile. Another package brings a stash of old collector's items, one from an album celebrating Euro 2016, when he skippered Austria. A greeting from the Newport Supporters’ Club is displayed prominently. Things like this makes me very pleased,' he adds.

A Prior Encounter and a Funny Mistake

Until returning from North Carolina to take on his first job in first-team coaching last month, Fuchs’s previous visit to Rodney Parade was in January 2019, when Leicester suffered a Newport giantkilling in the FA Cup third round. On that occasion David Pipe faced off against Fuchs. {'He had the performance of his career,' Fuchs recalls. But when the teamsheets came out, an curious error came to light. {'You need to censor this,' Fuchs jokes. 'They got wrong my name – somehow a 'k' crept in in place of the 'h'. It is funny because Fuchs, in German, means fox, so it’s something nice.'

Experiences from The Tinkerman, Rodgers and Tuchel

His move to join the Foxes in the summer of 2015 turned out to be brilliant. A couple of weeks later Leicester hired Claudio Ranieri and the rest is history. The Italian joined the club in the heart of a pre-season camp in Austria and his hands-off approach did the trick. {'When you observe Claudio you imagine an seasoned professional, so long in the business, maybe a bit old school, but he’s the complete opposite,' Fuchs states. {'He just said he was going to watch 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 studied you for a week and I’m not going to change 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 more out of the players? How can I test them psychologically?’’ Fuchs says of Tuchel. {'That’s a major part of our philosophy as well. How can you make good thinkers on the pitch? Back then he was probably in a analogous place to where I am now … very motivated, very anxious to prove himself.'

Origins and a Stubborn Nature

Fuchs’s motivation originates in his childhood in Neunkirchen. {'There are parallels to where we are now, because I was told when I was 11 years old that I would never be good enough,' he discloses. {'There are people who let that get the better of 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 can't do that.’ I’m going to demonstrate that I can and work my socks off. The other thing about my make-up is: I’m pretty determined. 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 previously led Fuchs’s Fox Soccer Academy. Fuchs fires up his laptop to show data from a recent 2-2 draw, displaying a slide he showed his players. {'The team hit numerous season highs,' he says, highlighting ball progression and statistics about breaking defensive lines. Passing accuracy was shown as 87%. {'Not happy with that … that needs to be in the mid-90s,' he declares. {'My first game, it was very physical, League Two football, but we want to be distinct. I think a five-yard pass has a higher percentage to find its target than just going long all the time.'

The broader numbers present sobering reading. Newport have secured 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 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 garnered a crucial point. {'We need to be a dominant side at home,' Fuchs emphasizes. {'It’s just not acceptable, not even having a win. We need to construct a impenetrable home.'

Still a Player at Heart

By his own admission, Fuchs likes 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 middle of the action. {'I’m a component of the group. I’m still a player inside,' he remarks, indicating his chest. {'At training I’m always getting involved in the small-sided games – two pannas already, get in! I want us to view each other as a single unit. Yes, you’re the ones on the field, but we’re all in this together, we’re working on this collectively.'