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'I reckon that the odds of us reviving our campaign are less than Leicester claiming the Premier League, so they are in our favour, right?' Christian Fuchs is reflecting on his recent venture as manager of Newport County, and the daunting task of preventing a fall into non-league football. Here lies a challenge at the polar opposite of the scale, though that unbelievable title win in 2016 provided him with much more than a Premier League trophy. {'It helped change my perspective a little bit ... it demonstrated that the unattainable can be achievable,' he notes.

The Illogical 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 a laugh. This serves as the 39-year-old's initial statement and a clear demonstration of his charismatic character across a colourful conversation. The discussion travels in various tangents, from working under Thomas Tuchel and Brendan Rodgers to the urgent quest to find a local barber.

He opens some mail on his desk. Among it is a message from a Leicester supporter sending best wishes, paired with a couple of glossy photos from that memorable year. {'Young Fuchs,' he remarks, with a smile. Another delivery brings a collection of old collector's items, one from an album commemorating Euro 2016, when he captained Austria. A greeting from the Newport Supporters’ Club is displayed prominently. Things like this really makes me very happy,' he states.

A Prior Encounter and a Typographical Error

Until his move back from North Carolina to assume his first job in frontline management last month, Fuchs’s most recent encounter to Rodney Parade was in January 2019, when Leicester were on the end of a Newport giantkilling in the FA Cup third round. That day David Pipe competed with Fuchs. {'He had the match of his career,' Fuchs recalls. But when the lineup cards came out, an curious error came to light. {'You need to redact this,' Fuchs says with a smile. '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 choice to join the Foxes in the summer of 2015 was brilliant. A couple of weeks later Leicester hired Claudio Ranieri and an iconic story unfolded. The Italian arrived at the club in the midst of a pre-season camp in Austria and his light-touch approach produced miracles. {'When you see Claudio you envision an older man, so long in the business, maybe a bit traditional, but he’s so not,' Fuchs states. {'He just said he was going to watch 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 modify anything.''

Fuchs cherishes insights gained 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 challenge them psychologically?’’ Fuchs says of Tuchel. {'That’s a significant part of our methodology as well. How can you make good decision-makers? Back then he was probably in a analogous place to where I am now … very driven, very anxious to prove himself.'

Roots and a Resolute Mindset

Fuchs’s drive comes from 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 capable enough,' he reveals. {'There are people who let that defeat 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't do that.’ I’m going to prove that I can and work my socks off. The other thing about my make-up is: I’m very stubborn. If I see possibility, I’m making it happen.'

Analytical Approach and the Struggle for Survival

Fuchs’s assistant, Mark Smith, was born in Newport and had been in charge of Fuchs’s Fox Soccer Academy. Fuchs fires up his laptop to show analytics from a recent 2-2 draw, displaying a slide he showed his players. {'The team hit several season bests,' he points out, highlighting ball progression and statistics about penetrating defensive lines. Passing accuracy was shown as 87%. {'Not pleased with that … that needs to be in the mid-90s,' he declares. {'My first game, it was very long-ball, League Two football, but we want to be unique. I think a five-yard pass has a higher percentage to arrive than just launching it all the time.'

The general numbers paint sobering reading. Newport have won three of 19 league matches and are yet to win 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 last-gasp equaliser with 10 men garnered a valuable point. {'We need to be a force at home,' Fuchs says. {'It’s just not satisfactory, not even having a win. We need to construct a impenetrable home.'

In the Thick of It at Heart

By his own confession, Fuchs enjoys a challenge. {'What’s so wrong with that?' He retired less than three years ago and, like Tuchel, likes being in the middle of the action. {'I’m a part of the group. I’m still a player inside,' he says, indicating his chest. {'At training I’m always joining in in the small-sided games – two pannas already, yes! I want us to view each other as one team. Yes, you’re the ones on the field, but we’re all in this together, we’re working on this together.'