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'I reckon that the odds of us reviving our campaign are less than Leicester winning the Premier League, so they are in our favour, right?' Christian Fuchs is talking about his recent venture as head coach of the Football League's bottom club, and the immense task of staving off a descent into non-league football. This represents a challenge at the complete other end of the spectrum, though that unbelievable title win in 2016 furnished him much more than a Premier League trophy. {'It contributed to shifting my perspective a little bit ... it demonstrated that the impossible can be attainable,' he notes.

The Surprising Path to Rodney Parade

The obvious place to start is: how did Fuchs end up here? 'I suppose that's the part that's illogical, right?' he says, breaking into a chuckle. This serves as the 39-year-old's initial statement and a clear demonstration of his charismatic character across a wide-ranging conversation. Discourse travels in various tangents, from playing for Thomas Tuchel and the former Leicester manager to the immediate requirement to find a barber in the area.

He looks at some mail on his desk. Among it is a note from a Leicester supporter wishing him well, along with a couple of glossy photos from that campaign. {'Young Fuchs,' he remarks, grinning. Another package brings a hoard of old Panini stickers, one from an album celebrating Euro 2016, when he led Austria. A card from the Newport Supporters’ Club has pride of place. 'Stuff like this really makes me very happy,' he concludes.

A Previous Visit and a Typographical Error

Until his move back from North Carolina to take on 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 giantkilling in the FA Cup third round. During that match the Newport kit man faced off against Fuchs. {'He had the match of his career,' Fuchs says. But when the official sheets dropped, an amusing error was discovered. {'You need to redact this,' Fuchs jokes. '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 nice.'

Insights from Ranieri, Rodgers and Tuchel

His move to join the Foxes in the summer of 2015 turned out to be inspired. A couple of weeks later Leicester hired Claudio Ranieri and an iconic story unfolded. The Italian joined the club in the middle of a pre-season camp in Austria and his light-touch approach worked wonders. {'When you observe Claudio you envision an elder gentleman, so long in the business, maybe a bit old school, but he’s the complete opposite,' Fuchs states. {'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 watched you for a week and I’m not going to change anything.''

Fuchs values experiences 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 challenge them mentally?’’ Fuchs says of Tuchel. {'That’s a significant part of our approach as well. How can you make good thinkers on the pitch? Back then he was probably in a comparable position to where I am now … very motivated, very anxious to prove himself.'

Roots and a Stubborn Nature

Fuchs’s determination originates in his upbringing in Neunkirchen. {'There are similarities to where we are now, because I was told when I was 11 years old that I would never be capable enough,' he discloses. {'There are people who let that defeat them or there are people who say: ‘Fuchs you, I’m going to show you.’ I’ve been told too many times: ‘You can't do this, you can't do that.’ I’m going to show that I can and work my socks off. The other thing about my make-up is: I’m quite determined. If I see potential, I’m doing it.'

Analytical Approach and the Fight 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 data from a recent 2-2 draw, displaying a slide he presented to his players. {'The team hit several season bests,' he says, highlighting ball progression and statistics about breaking defensive lines. Passing accuracy was recorded at 87%. {'Not pleased with that … that needs to be in the 90-95% range,' he declares. {'My first game, it was very long-ball, fourth-tier football, but we want to be different. I think a five-yard pass has a higher probability to arrive than just launching it all the time.'

The general numbers paint grim 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 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 force at home,' Fuchs emphasizes. {'It’s just not good enough, not even having a win. We need to construct a impenetrable home.'

In the Thick of It at Heart

By his own admission, Fuchs enjoys a challenge. {'What’s so wrong with that?' He retired less than three years ago and, like Tuchel, enjoys being in the thick of things. {'I’m a component of the group. I’m still a player at heart,' he remarks, pointing to his chest. {'At training I’m always participating in the small-sided games – two megs already, get in! I want us to view each other as a unified group. Yes, you’re the ones on the field, but we’re all in this together, we’re working on this collectively.'