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'I estimate that the odds of us reviving our campaign are lower than Leicester winning the Premier League, so they are in our favour, right?' Christian Fuchs is discussing his fresh chapter as manager of the League Two strugglers, and the immense task of preventing a descent into non-league football. Here lies a challenge at the polar opposite of the spectrum of success, though that miraculous title win in 2016 provided him with far more than a champion's gong. {'It contributed to shifting my outlook a little bit ... it demonstrated that the unthinkable can be possible,' he remarks.

'How Did Fuchs End Up Here?'

The logical place to start is: what brought Fuchs find himself here? 'I suppose that's the part that's unpredictable, right?' he states, breaking into laughter. This remark acts as the 39-year-old's opening gambit and a clear indication of his playful character across a wide-ranging conversation. Discourse travels in various tangents, from working under the current England boss and the former Leicester manager to the pressing need to find a local barber.

He looks at some mail on his desk. Among it is a note from a Leicester supporter wishing him well, accompanied by a couple of shiny pictures from that campaign. {'Young Fuchs,' he says, smiling. Another envelope brings a stash of old collector's items, one from an album celebrating Euro 2016, when he skippered Austria. A card from the Newport Supporters’ Club has pride of place. Items like this makes me very happy,' he adds.

A Previous Visit and a Typographical Error

Until coming back from North Carolina to accept his first job in senior management last month, Fuchs’s last trip to Rodney Parade was in January 2019, when Leicester were on the end of a Newport cupset in the FA Cup third round. That day David Pipe duelled against Fuchs. {'He had the performance of his career,' Fuchs says. But when the teamsheets dropped, an curious error emerged. {'You need to edit this,' Fuchs jokes. 'They misspelled my name – somehow a 'k' smuggled itself in in place of the 'h'. It is amusing because Fuchs, in German, means fox, so it’s something nice.'

Lessons from Claudio, Rodgers and Tuchel

His move to join the Foxes in the summer of 2015 proved brilliant. A couple of weeks later Leicester appointed Claudio Ranieri and an iconic story unfolded. The Italian came to the club in the heart of a pre-season camp in Austria and his hands-off approach produced miracles. {'When you see Claudio you picture an older man, so long in the business, maybe a bit set in his ways, but he’s anything but,' Fuchs says. {'He just said he was going to monitor training in Austria for the first week. He remained on the sidelines at all. After that week we had a meeting and he said: 'I’ve studied 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 thought: ‘How can I get additional out of the players? How can I challenge them mentally?’’ Fuchs says of Tuchel. {'That’s a significant part of our methodology 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 anxious to prove himself.'

Background and a Determined Character

Fuchs’s drive 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 good enough,' he reveals. {'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 cannot do this, you cannot do that.’ I’m going to demonstrate that I can and work my socks off. The other thing about my personality is: I’m pretty headstrong. If I see promise, I’m going for it.'

Data-Driven 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 boots up his laptop to show statistics from a recent 2-2 draw, presenting a slide he presented to his players. {'The team hit several season highs,' he explains, highlighting ball progression and statistics about breaking defensive lines. Passing accuracy was shown as 87%. {'Not pleased with that … that needs to be in the mid-90s,' he states. {'My first game, it was very long-ball, lower-league football, but we want to be unique. I think a five-yard pass has a higher probability to arrive than just launching it 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 won a game 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 garnered a crucial point. {'We need to be a dominant side at home,' Fuchs stresses. {'It’s just not acceptable, not even having a win. We need to build a stronghold.'

In the Thick of It at Heart

By his own acknowledgement, Fuchs relishes a challenge. {'What’s so wrong with that?' He retired less than three years ago and, like Tuchel, likes being in the heart of the battle. {'I’m a part of the group. I’m still a player inside,' he says, pointing to his chest. {'At training I’m always getting involved in the boxes – two pannas 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 tackling this collectively.'