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'I would say that the likelihood of us transforming our fortunes are lower than Leicester claiming the Premier League, so they are in our favor, right?' Christian Fuchs is reflecting on his recent venture as manager of Newport County, and the immense task of staving off a drop into non-league football. This represents a challenge at the polar opposite of the spectrum, though that fairytale title win in 2016 gave him much more than a champion's gong. {'It helped change my mindset a little bit ... it proved that the unthinkable can be possible,' he states.

The Surprising Path to Rodney Parade

The obvious place to start is: what brought Fuchs find himself here? 'I imagine that's the part that's not logical, right?' he says, letting out laughter. This remark acts as the 39-year-old's introductory line and a clear demonstration of his charismatic character across a wide-ranging conversation. Discourse travels in multiple pathways, from working under the current England boss and Brendan Rodgers to the pressing need to find a nearby hairdresser.

He opens some post on his desk. Included is a message from a Leicester supporter offering encouragement, along with a couple of professional photographs from that season. {'Young Fuchs,' he says, grinning. Another envelope brings a hoard of old stickers, one from an album marking Euro 2016, when he led Austria. A card from the Newport Supporters’ Club is displayed prominently. Things like this genuinely makes me very pleased,' he concludes.

A Previous Visit and a Funny Mistake

Until returning from North Carolina to take on his first job in frontline management last month, Fuchs’s previous visit to Rodney Parade was in January 2019, when Leicester endured a Newport cupset in the FA Cup third round. During that match a former full-back faced off against Fuchs. {'He had the match of his career,' Fuchs says. But when the lineup cards were released, an interesting 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 hilarious because Fuchs, in German, means fox, so it’s something pleasant.'

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 hired 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 light-touch approach worked wonders. {'When you observe Claudio you picture an seasoned professional, so a veteran of the sport, maybe a bit set in his ways, 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 studied you for a week and I’m not going to modify anything.''

Fuchs values 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 test 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 focused, very eager to prove himself.'

Origins and a Stubborn Mindset

Fuchs’s motivation comes 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 good enough,' he shares. {'There are people who let that overcome them or there are people who say: ‘Watch me, 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 prove that I can and work my socks off. The other thing about my character is: I’m quite stubborn. If I see possibility, I’m making it happen.'

Analytical 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 fires up his laptop to show statistics from a recent 2-2 draw, presenting a slide he used with his players. {'The team hit several season peaks,' he points out, noting ball progression and statistics about getting behind defensive lines. Passing accuracy was shown as 87%. {'Not satisfied with that … that needs to be in the 90-95% range,' he states. {'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 arrive than just hoofing it all the time.'

The general numbers paint bleak reading. Newport have secured three of 19 league matches and are without a victory 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 last-gasp equaliser with 10 men garnered a valuable 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 stronghold.'

One of the Lads 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, likes being in the thick of things. {'I’m a member of the group. I’m still a player in here,' he states, indicating his chest. {'At training I’m always getting involved in the boxes – two pannas already, yes! I want us to see each other as a single unit. Yes, you’re the ones on the field, but we’re a collective, we’re tackling this collectively.'