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'I estimate that the likelihood of us turning the season around are less than Leicester claiming the Premier League, so they are in our favor, right?' Christian Fuchs is discussing his new life as manager of the Football League's bottom club, and the monumental task of preventing a drop into non-league football. It is a challenge at the complete other end of the scale, though that miraculous title win in 2016 provided him with much more than a winner's medal. {'It assisted in altering my mindset a little bit ... it demonstrated that the unthinkable can be achievable,' he states.

The Surprising Path to Rodney Parade

The obvious place to start is: what brought Fuchs end up here? 'That's the part of the story that isn't straightforward, wouldn't you say?' he states, breaking into a chuckle. It is the 39-year-old's introductory line and a clear demonstration of his engaging character across a wide-ranging conversation. Discourse flows in various tangents, from playing for the current England boss and the former Leicester manager to the urgent quest to find a local barber.

He looks at some correspondence on his desk. Included is a note from a Leicester supporter wishing him well, accompanied by a couple of professional photographs from that season. {'Young Fuchs,' he remarks, grinning. Another envelope brings a hoard of old stickers, one from an album celebrating Euro 2016, when he captained Austria. A greeting from the Newport Supporters’ Club is displayed prominently. Things like this genuinely makes me very content,' he states.

A Past Trip and a Misspelt Name

Until returning from North Carolina to take on his first job in senior management last month, Fuchs’s most recent encounter to Rodney Parade was in January 2019, when Leicester suffered a Newport cupset in the FA Cup third round. On that occasion David Pipe duelled against Fuchs. {'He had the match of his life,' Fuchs says. But when the teamsheets came out, an curious error was discovered. {'You need to edit this,' Fuchs remarks. '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.'

Insights from Claudio, Rodgers and Tuchel

His choice to join the Foxes in the summer of 2015 proved brilliant. A couple of weeks later Leicester appointed Claudio Ranieri and what followed is legendary. The Italian joined the club in the middle of a pre-season camp in Austria and his light-touch approach produced miracles. {'When you see Claudio you picture an seasoned professional, so long in the business, maybe a bit old school, but he’s anything but,' Fuchs explains. {'He just said he was going to watch 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 alter 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 extra out of the players? How can I challenge them psychologically?’’ Fuchs says of Tuchel. {'That’s a big part of our methodology as well. How can you make good thinkers on the pitch? Back then he was probably in a comparable position to where I am now … very motivated, very anxious to prove himself.'

Origins and a Determined Nature

Fuchs’s drive stems from his upbringing 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 reveals. {'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 make-up is: I’m quite determined. If I see possibility, I’m going for it.'

Analytical Approach and the Battle for Survival

Fuchs’s assistant, Mark Smith, was born in Newport and formerly ran Fuchs’s Fox Soccer Academy. Fuchs boots up his laptop to show statistics from a recent 2-2 draw, presenting a slide he showed his players. {'The team hit many, many season bests,' he points out, noting ball progression and statistics about penetrating defensive lines. Passing accuracy was logged at 87%. {'Not pleased with that … that needs to be in the mid-90s,' he insists. {'My first game, it was very long-ball, League Two football, but we want to be distinct. I think a five-yard pass has a higher chance to find its target than just going long all the time.'

The general numbers present bleak 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 tasted victory 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 crucial point. {'We need to be a dominant side at home,' Fuchs emphasizes. {'It’s just not good enough, not even having a win. We need to build a stronghold.'

One of the Lads at Heart

By his own acknowledgement, Fuchs likes a challenge. {'What’s so bad with that?' He hung up his boots less than three years ago and, like Tuchel, enjoys being in the heart of the battle. {'I’m a component of the group. I’m still a player at heart,' he remarks, tapping his chest. {'At training I’m always joining in in the small-sided games – two megs already, brilliant! 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 working on this collectively.'