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'I would say that the likelihood of us transforming our fortunes are slimmer than Leicester claiming the Premier League, so they are in our favor, right?' The Austrian veteran is talking about his recent venture as head coach of the Football League's bottom club, and the monumental task of averting a fall into non-league football. This represents a challenge at the complete other end of the spectrum of success, though that fairytale title win in 2016 gave him a great deal more than a champion's gong. {'It assisted in altering my outlook a little bit ... it showed that the unattainable can be possible,' he states.

The Unlikely Path to Rodney Parade

The obvious place to start is: what brought Fuchs find himself here? 'That's the part of the story that defies logic, wouldn't you say?' he comments, letting out laughter. This remark acts as the 39-year-old's opening gambit and a clear demonstration of his playful character across a wide-ranging conversation. Discourse flows in multiple pathways, from playing for Thomas Tuchel and Brendan Rodgers to the immediate requirement to find a barber in the area.

He opens some mail on his desk. There is a note from a Leicester supporter offering encouragement, accompanied by a couple of shiny pictures from that campaign. {'Young Fuchs,' he remarks, with a smile. Another envelope brings a stash of old stickers, one from an album commemorating Euro 2016, when he skippered Austria. A greeting from the Newport Supporters’ Club is displayed prominently. Items like this makes me very pleased,' he states.

A Prior Encounter and a Typographical Error

Prior to returning from North Carolina to take on his first job in first-team coaching last month, Fuchs’s last trip to Rodney Parade was in January 2019, when Leicester endured a Newport cupset in the FA Cup third round. On that occasion the Newport kit man duelled against Fuchs. {'He had the game of his life,' Fuchs says. But when the official sheets came out, an interesting error emerged. {'You need to redact this,' Fuchs remarks. 'They got wrong 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 fitting.'

Insights from Claudio, Rodgers and Tuchel

His move to join the Foxes in the summer of 2015 was inspired. A couple of weeks later Leicester hired Claudio Ranieri and what followed is legendary. The Italian arrived at the club in the midst of a pre-season camp in Austria and his observational approach produced miracles. {'When you look at Claudio you picture an elder gentleman, so experienced in the game, maybe a bit old school, but he’s anything but,' Fuchs states. {'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 watched 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 pondered: ‘How can I get extra out of the players? How can I push them psychologically?’’ 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 Determined Nature

Fuchs’s motivation originates in his childhood 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 skilled enough,' he shares. {'There are people who let that defeat them or there are people who say: ‘Watch me, I’m going to show you.’ I’ve been told too many times: ‘You can't do this, you cannot do that.’ I’m going to demonstrate that I can and put in the hard yards. The other thing about my character is: I’m very determined. If I see possibility, I’m going for it.'

Analytical Approach and the Fight 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 several season peaks,' he points out, emphasizing ball progression and statistics about getting behind defensive lines. Passing accuracy was shown as 87%. {'Not happy with that … that needs to be in the mid-90s,' he insists. {'My first game, it was very direct, fourth-tier football, but we want to be distinct. I think a five-yard pass has a higher chance to arrive than just launching it all the time.'

The broader numbers make bleak reading. Newport have won 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 earned a crucial 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 enjoys a challenge. {'What’s so wrong with that?' He hung up his boots less than three years ago and, like Tuchel, enjoys being in the middle of the action. {'I’m a member of the group. I’m still a player inside,' he says, indicating his chest. {'At training I’m always joining in in the drills – two pannas already, brilliant! I want us to regard 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 together.'