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'I estimate that the chances of us turning the season around are less than Leicester winning the Premier League, so they are in our favor, right?' Christian Fuchs is discussing his fresh chapter as head coach of Newport County, and the daunting task of preventing a fall into non-league football. It is a challenge at the polar opposite of the spectrum, though that fairytale title win in 2016 furnished him far more than a Premier League trophy. {'It helped change my perspective a little bit ... it demonstrated that the impossible can be achievable,' he remarks.

The Unlikely Path to Rodney Parade

The obvious place to start is: how did Fuchs find himself here? 'That's the element of the story that seems counterintuitive, wouldn't you say?' he states, erupting in a chuckle. This serves as the 39-year-old's introductory line and a clear sign of his engaging character across a colourful conversation. Our talk flows in various tangents, from working under Thomas Tuchel and the former Leicester manager to the immediate requirement to find a barber in the area.

He sorts through some mail on his desk. There is a note from a Leicester supporter wishing him well, paired with a couple of professional photographs from that memorable year. {'Young Fuchs,' he remarks, smiling. Another delivery brings a hoard of old stickers, one from an album commemorating Euro 2016, when he skippered Austria. A note from the Newport Supporters’ Club is displayed prominently. 'Stuff like this genuinely makes me very pleased,' he adds.

A Previous Visit and a Funny Mistake

Prior to coming back from North Carolina to assume 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 shock defeat in the FA Cup third round. During that match a former full-back duelled against Fuchs. {'He had the game of his life,' Fuchs admits. But when the teamsheets came out, an interesting error was discovered. {'You need to redact this,' Fuchs jokes. 'They got wrong my name – somehow a 'k' found its way in in place of the 'h'. It is hilarious because Fuchs, in German, means fox, so it’s something fitting.'

Insights from Claudio, Rodgers and Tuchel

His move to join the Foxes in the summer of 2015 proved inspired. A couple of weeks later Leicester hired Claudio Ranieri and the rest is history. The Italian arrived at the club in the midst of a pre-season camp in Austria and his observational approach worked wonders. {'When you observe Claudio you picture an older man, so long in the business, maybe a bit traditional, but he’s so not,' 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 observed you for a week and I’m not going to modify anything.''

Fuchs holds dear lessons learned from Rodgers and Tuchel, under whom he worked while on loan at Mainz. {'He always thought: ‘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 decision-makers? Back then he was probably in a analogous place to where I am now … very focused, very keen to prove himself.'

Background and a Stubborn Mindset

Fuchs’s determination originates in his upbringing 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 cannot do this, you can not do that.’ I’m going to prove that I can and put in the hard yards. The other thing about my personality is: I’m quite stubborn. If I see promise, I’m going for it.'

Detailed Approach and the Struggle for Survival

Fuchs’s assistant, Mark Smith, was born in Newport and formerly ran Fuchs’s Fox Soccer Academy. Fuchs opens his laptop to show data from a recent 2-2 draw, displaying a slide he presented to his players. {'The team hit numerous season highs,' he says, 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 declares. {'My first game, it was very physical, fourth-tier football, but we want to be distinct. I think a five-yard pass has a higher chance to arrive than just going long all the time.'

The broader 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 93rd-minute equaliser with 10 men earned a valuable 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 construct a impenetrable home.'

Still a Player at Heart

By his own acknowledgement, Fuchs relishes 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 member of the group. I’m still a player at heart,' he remarks, indicating his chest. {'At training I’m always getting involved in the drills – two megs already, yes! 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 striving towards this together.'