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'I estimate that the chances of us turning the season around are slimmer than Leicester winning the Premier League, so they are in our benefit, right?' Christian Fuchs is discussing his fresh chapter as head coach of the Football League's bottom club, and the immense task of preventing a descent into non-league football. It is a challenge at the polar opposite of the spectrum, though that fairytale title win in 2016 gave him a great deal more than a Premier League trophy. {'It contributed to shifting my mindset a little bit ... it showed that the impossible can be achievable,' he notes.

'How Did Fuchs Wind 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 says, letting out laughter. It is the 39-year-old's introductory line and a clear demonstration of his charismatic character across a fascinating conversation. Discourse travels in different directions, from working under the current England boss and the former Leicester manager to the pressing need to find a nearby hairdresser.

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 season. {'Young Fuchs,' he muses, smiling. Another envelope brings a stash of old collector's items, one from an album marking Euro 2016, when he skippered Austria. A card from the Newport Supporters’ Club has pride of place. Items like this genuinely makes me very content,' he concludes.

A Previous Visit and a Funny Mistake

Until returning from North Carolina to assume his first job in senior management last month, Fuchs’s last trip to Rodney Parade was in January 2019, when Leicester suffered a Newport giantkilling in the FA Cup third round. During that match a former full-back faced off against Fuchs. {'He had the game of his career,' Fuchs recalls. But when the teamsheets dropped, an interesting error emerged. {'You need to edit this,' Fuchs says with a smile. 'They misspelled 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.'

Experiences from The Tinkerman, 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 arrived at the club in the heart of a pre-season camp in Austria and his observational approach produced miracles. {'When you observe Claudio you imagine an seasoned professional, so long in the business, maybe a bit old school, but he’s anything but,' Fuchs says. {'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 cherishes lessons learned from Rodgers and Tuchel, under whom he worked while on loan at Mainz. {'He always pondered: ‘How can I get additional out of the players? How can I challenge them psychologically?’’ Fuchs says of Tuchel. {'That’s a significant part of our methodology 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 Resolute Mindset

Fuchs’s motivation comes from 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 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 can not do that.’ I’m going to show that I can and put in the hard yards. The other thing about my personality is: I’m very stubborn. If I see possibility, I’m making it happen.'

Analytical Approach and the Fight for Survival

Fuchs’s assistant, Mark Smith, was born in Newport and previously led Fuchs’s Fox Soccer Academy. Fuchs boots up his laptop to show analytics from a recent 2-2 draw, presenting a slide he presented to his players. {'The team hit numerous season peaks,' he points out, noting ball progression and statistics about getting behind defensive lines. Passing accuracy was recorded at 87%. {'Not pleased with that … that needs to be in the 90-95% range,' he insists. {'My first game, it was very direct, fourth-tier football, but we want to be unique. I think a five-yard pass has a higher chance to find its target than just going long all the time.'

The general numbers make bleak reading. Newport have won three of 19 league matches and are yet to win 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 93rd-minute equaliser with 10 men secured a crucial point. {'We need to be a force at home,' Fuchs says. {'It’s just not satisfactory, not even having a win. We need to create a impenetrable home.'

In the Thick of It at Heart

By his own confession, Fuchs likes a challenge. {'What’s so bad with that?' He retired less than three years ago and, like Tuchel, loves being in the thick of things. {'I’m a member of the group. I’m still a player in here,' he remarks, pointing to his chest. {'At training I’m always joining in in the small-sided games – two megs already, yes! I want us to see each other as a single unit. Yes, you’re the ones on the field, but we’re one team, we’re striving towards this as one.'