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'I reckon that the odds of us turning the season around are slimmer than Leicester claiming the Premier League, so they are in our favour, right?' Christian Fuchs is talking about his fresh chapter as boss of the League Two strugglers, and the monumental task of preventing a fall into non-league football. Here lies a challenge at the polar opposite of the spectrum of success, though that unbelievable title win in 2016 gave him much more than a winner's medal. {'It contributed to shifting my outlook a little bit ... it showed that the unthinkable can be possible,' he notes.

The Unlikely Path to Rodney Parade

The natural place to start is: what brought Fuchs wind up here? 'I suppose that's the part that's unpredictable, right?' he comments, erupting in laughter. This serves as the 39-year-old's initial statement and a clear sign of his engaging character across a colourful conversation. Discourse travels in various tangents, from playing for the current England boss and the former Leicester manager to the urgent quest to find a barber in the area.

He opens some mail on his desk. Included is a note from a Leicester supporter offering encouragement, accompanied by a couple of professional photographs from that season. {'Young Fuchs,' he says, smiling. Another envelope brings a hoard of old stickers, one from an album marking Euro 2016, when he skippered Austria. A card from the Newport Supporters’ Club is displayed prominently. 'Stuff like this really makes me very content,' he states.

A Past Trip and a Misspelt Name

Until returning from North Carolina to accept 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 cupset in the FA Cup third round. On that occasion David Pipe competed with Fuchs. {'He had the performance of his life,' Fuchs says. But when the lineup cards were released, an curious error was discovered. {'You need to redact this,' Fuchs remarks. 'They got wrong my name – somehow a 'k' smuggled itself in in place of the 'h'. It is hilarious because Fuchs, in German, means fox, so it’s something pleasant.'

Experiences from Claudio, Rodgers and Tuchel

His choice to join the Foxes in the summer of 2015 turned out to be brilliant. A couple of weeks later Leicester brought in 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 hands-off approach worked wonders. {'When you observe Claudio you envision an seasoned professional, so long in the business, maybe a bit set in his ways, but he’s the complete opposite,' Fuchs explains. {'He just said he was going to monitor training in Austria for the first week. He stayed out of it 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 alter anything.''

Fuchs cherishes lessons learned from Rodgers and Tuchel, under whom he worked while on loan at Mainz. {'He always considered: ‘How can I get extra out of the players? How can I push them mentally?’’ Fuchs says of Tuchel. {'That’s a significant part of our philosophy 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 driven, very keen to prove himself.'

Background and a Determined Character

Fuchs’s motivation stems from 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 shares. {'There are people who let that defeat 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 cannot do that.’ I’m going to show that I can and put in the hard yards. The other thing about my make-up is: I’m pretty headstrong. If I see promise, I’m doing it.'

Detailed Approach and the Battle for Survival

Fuchs’s assistant, Mark Smith, was born in Newport and had been in charge of Fuchs’s Fox Soccer Academy. Fuchs opens his laptop to show analytics from a recent 2-2 draw, presenting a slide he presented to his players. {'The team hit many, many season bests,' he points out, noting ball progression and statistics about getting behind defensive lines. Passing accuracy was logged at 87%. {'Not satisfied with that … that needs to be in the mid-90s,' he declares. {'My first game, it was very direct, lower-league football, but we want to be unique. I think a five-yard pass has a higher percentage to find its target than just hoofing it all the time.'

The overarching numbers paint bleak reading. Newport have secured 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 secured three points 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 secured a precious point. {'We need to be a power at home,' Fuchs says. {'It’s just not satisfactory, not even having a win. We need to build a fortress.'

Still a Player 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, likes being in the thick of things. {'I’m a component of the group. I’m still a player at heart,' he remarks, indicating his chest. {'At training I’m always participating in the drills – two nutmegs already, brilliant! I want us to see each other as a unified group. Yes, you’re the ones on the field, but we’re all in this together, we’re working on this as one.'