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'I reckon that the chances of us turning the season around are slimmer than Leicester claiming the Premier League, so they are in our benefit, right?' Christian Fuchs is talking about his new life as manager of the Football League's bottom club, and the daunting task of staving off a descent into non-league football. This represents a challenge at the polar opposite of the scale, though that fairytale title win in 2016 provided him with much more than a champion's gong. {'It contributed to shifting my perspective a little bit ... it proved that the unthinkable can be achievable,' he states.

The Illogical Path to Rodney Parade

The obvious place to start is: how did Fuchs wind up here? 'That's the part of the story that seems counterintuitive, wouldn't you say?' he states, breaking into laughter. It is the 39-year-old's initial statement and a clear indication of his charismatic character across a wide-ranging conversation. Our talk runs in different directions, from playing for Thomas Tuchel and the former Leicester manager to the urgent quest to find a barber in the area.

He sorts through some correspondence on his desk. Included is a note from a Leicester supporter sending best wishes, accompanied by a couple of shiny pictures from that memorable year. {'Young Fuchs,' he muses, smiling. Another package brings a stash of old stickers, one from an album marking Euro 2016, when he skippered Austria. A card from the Newport Supporters’ Club is given special attention. Items like this genuinely makes me very content,' he adds.

A Past Trip and a Typographical Error

Until returning from North Carolina to assume his first job in first-team coaching last month, Fuchs’s most recent encounter to Rodney Parade was in January 2019, when Leicester suffered a Newport giantkilling in the FA Cup third round. During that match the Newport kit man duelled against Fuchs. {'He had the performance of his life,' Fuchs says. But when the teamsheets came out, an curious error was discovered. {'You need to censor this,' Fuchs says with a smile. 'They misspelled 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 fitting.'

Experiences from Ranieri, Rodgers and Tuchel

His choice to join the Foxes in the summer of 2015 turned out to be a masterstroke. A couple of weeks later Leicester hired Claudio Ranieri and what followed is legendary. The Italian arrived at the club in the heart of a pre-season camp in Austria and his hands-off approach worked wonders. {'When you observe Claudio you envision an older man, so a veteran of the sport, maybe a bit old school, but he’s so not,' Fuchs says. {'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 observed you for a week and I’m not going to change anything.''

Fuchs values 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 test them mentally?’’ Fuchs says of Tuchel. {'That’s a big part of our approach as well. How can you make good thinkers on the pitch? Back then he was probably in a similar situation to where I am now … very motivated, very keen to prove himself.'

Background and a Determined Character

Fuchs’s motivation originates in his early years 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 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 can not do that.’ I’m going to prove that I can and give absolutely everything. The other thing about my personality is: I’m very headstrong. If I see promise, I’m going for it.'

Detailed Approach and the Battle 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 statistics from a recent 2-2 draw, displaying a slide he presented to his players. {'The team hit several season highs,' he points out, emphasizing ball progression and statistics about breaking defensive lines. Passing accuracy was shown as 87%. {'Not happy with that … that needs to be in the 90-95% range,' he states. {'My first game, it was very long-ball, League Two football, but we want to be different. I think a five-yard pass has a higher chance to be successful than just hoofing it all the time.'

The general numbers paint bleak reading. Newport have managed 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 injury-time equaliser with 10 men secured a crucial point. {'We need to be a dominant side at home,' Fuchs says. {'It’s just not satisfactory, not even having a win. We need to build a fortress.'

One of the Lads at Heart

By his own admission, Fuchs enjoys a challenge. {'What’s so wrong with that?' He hung up his boots less than three years ago and, like Tuchel, enjoys being in the thick of things. {'I’m a member of the group. I’m still a player inside,' he says, pointing to 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 a unified group. Yes, you’re the ones on the field, but we’re all in this together, we’re striving towards this together.'