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'I reckon that the chances of us transforming our fortunes are less than Leicester lifting the Premier League, so they are in our favour, right?' The Austrian veteran is reflecting on his recent venture as boss of the Football League's bottom club, and the monumental task of staving off a descent into non-league football. This represents a challenge at the polar opposite of the scale, though that unbelievable title win in 2016 provided him with a great deal more than a champion's gong. {'It helped change my perspective a little bit ... it showed that the unattainable can be achievable,' he remarks.

'How Did Fuchs End Up Here?'

The logical place to start is: what brought Fuchs find himself here? 'I guess that's the part that's illogical, right?' he says, breaking into laughter. This serves as the 39-year-old's opening gambit and a clear sign of his engaging character across a wide-ranging conversation. Discourse runs in multiple pathways, from playing for the current England boss and the former Leicester manager to the pressing need to find a local barber.

He sorts through some correspondence on his desk. Included is a message from a Leicester supporter offering encouragement, accompanied by a couple of professional photographs from that memorable year. {'Young Fuchs,' he remarks, smiling. Another delivery brings a collection of old Panini stickers, one from an album marking Euro 2016, when he led Austria. A greeting from the Newport Supporters’ Club is displayed prominently. 'Stuff like this makes me very pleased,' he adds.

A Previous Visit and a Funny Mistake

Until his move back from North Carolina to take on his first job in senior management last month, Fuchs’s most recent encounter to Rodney Parade was in January 2019, when Leicester suffered a Newport giantkilling in the FA Cup third round. On that occasion the Newport kit man duelled against Fuchs. {'He had the match of his career,' Fuchs admits. But when the teamsheets 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 fitting.'

Experiences from The Tinkerman, Rodgers and Tuchel

His choice to join the Foxes in the summer of 2015 proved inspired. A couple of weeks later Leicester hired Claudio Ranieri and an iconic story unfolded. The Italian joined the club in the midst of a pre-season camp in Austria and his light-touch approach produced miracles. {'When you look at Claudio you picture an older man, so long in the business, maybe a bit set in his ways, but he’s so not,' Fuchs explains. {'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 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 push them mentally?’’ Fuchs says of Tuchel. {'That’s a major part of our methodology as well. How can you make good decision-makers? Back then he was probably in a similar situation to where I am now … very focused, very anxious to prove himself.'

Roots and a Resolute Mindset

Fuchs’s drive stems 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 discloses. {'There are people who let that overcome 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 cannot do that.’ I’m going to demonstrate that I can and put in the hard yards. The other thing about my personality is: I’m quite stubborn. If I see potential, I’m going for it.'

Data-Driven 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 analytics from a recent 2-2 draw, presenting a slide he used with his players. {'The team hit several season highs,' he explains, emphasizing 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 states. {'My first game, it was very physical, fourth-tier football, but we want to be unique. I think a five-yard pass has a higher chance to be successful than just going long all the time.'

The overarching numbers make grim 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 tasted victory at home for 273 days and have kept just two clean sheets in 26 matches this season. But a recent injury-time equaliser with 10 men earned a crucial point. {'We need to be a force at home,' Fuchs stresses. {'It’s just not acceptable, not even having a win. We need to build a fortress.'

Still a Player at Heart

By his own admission, Fuchs likes 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 middle of the action. {'I’m a part of the group. I’m still a player inside,' he remarks, indicating his chest. {'At training I’m always getting involved in the small-sided games – two megs already, yes! I want us to see 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 together.'