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'I would say that the likelihood 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 new life as boss of Newport County, and the immense task of preventing a descent into non-league football. Here lies a challenge at the polar opposite of the spectrum, though that miraculous title win in 2016 furnished him a great deal more than a champion's gong. {'It assisted in altering my perspective a little bit ... it demonstrated that the unattainable can be achievable,' he notes.

'How Did Fuchs Find Himself Here?'

The logical place to start is: what brought Fuchs wind up here? 'I imagine that's the part that's not logical, right?' he says, erupting in laughter. This remark acts as the 39-year-old's opening gambit and a clear indication of his playful character across a fascinating conversation. Discourse flows in different directions, from working under the current England boss and Brendan Rodgers to the pressing need to find a nearby hairdresser.

He looks at some post on his desk. Among it is a message from a Leicester supporter offering encouragement, accompanied by a couple of glossy photos from that campaign. {'Young Fuchs,' he muses, grinning. Another envelope brings a hoard of old stickers, one from an album marking Euro 2016, when he captained Austria. A note from the Newport Supporters’ Club is displayed prominently. 'Stuff like this makes me very pleased,' he concludes.

A Previous Visit and a Misspelt Name

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 were on the end of a Newport shock defeat in the FA Cup third round. That day the Newport kit man duelled against Fuchs. {'He had the match of his life,' Fuchs recalls. But when the lineup cards were released, an interesting error emerged. {'You need to censor this,' Fuchs says with a smile. 'They got wrong my name – somehow a 'k' found its way in in place of the 'h'. It is amusing because Fuchs, in German, means fox, so it’s something nice.'

Lessons from The Tinkerman, Rodgers and Tuchel

His decision to join the Foxes in the summer of 2015 was inspired. A couple of weeks later Leicester brought in Claudio Ranieri and what followed is legendary. The Italian came to the club in the midst of a pre-season camp in Austria and his hands-off approach worked wonders. {'When you look at Claudio you imagine an older man, so long in the business, maybe a bit old school, but he’s the complete opposite,' Fuchs says. {'He just said he was going to observe 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 cherishes lessons learned from Rodgers and Tuchel, under whom he worked while on loan at Mainz. {'He always considered: ‘How can I get extra out of the players? How can I push them mentally?’’ Fuchs says of Tuchel. {'That’s a big part of our approach as well. How can you make good decision-makers? Back then he was probably in a analogous place to where I am now … very driven, very anxious to prove himself.'

Origins and a Stubborn Mindset

Fuchs’s determination originates in his childhood 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 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 quite headstrong. If I see potential, I’m doing it.'

Detailed Approach and the Battle for Survival

Fuchs’s assistant, Mark Smith, was born in Newport and previously led Fuchs’s Fox Soccer Academy. Fuchs fires up his laptop to show data from a recent 2-2 draw, presenting a slide he used with his players. {'The team hit numerous season peaks,' he explains, emphasizing ball progression and statistics about getting behind defensive lines. Passing accuracy was logged at 87%. {'Not happy with that … that needs to be in the mid-90s,' he declares. {'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 percentage to find its target than just launching it all the time.'

The general numbers present sobering 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 secured three points 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 valuable point. {'We need to be a force at home,' Fuchs emphasizes. {'It’s just not acceptable, not even having a win. We need to construct a impenetrable home.'

One of the Lads at Heart

By his own admission, Fuchs enjoys a challenge. {'What’s so wrong with that?' He ended his playing career less than three years ago and, like Tuchel, likes being in the heart of the battle. {'I’m a member of the group. I’m still a player inside,' he says, indicating his chest. {'At training I’m always participating in the small-sided games – two megs already, yes! I want us to regard each other as one team. Yes, you’re the ones on the field, but we’re all in this together, we’re striving towards this as one.'