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'I estimate that the odds of us reviving our campaign are slimmer than Leicester winning the Premier League, so they are in our favour, right?' Christian Fuchs is discussing his fresh chapter as boss of the League Two strugglers, and the monumental task of staving off a fall into non-league football. It is a challenge at the complete other end of the scale, though that miraculous title win in 2016 provided him with much more than a champion's gong. {'It assisted in altering my perspective a little bit ... it showed that the unthinkable can be possible,' he remarks.

'How Did Fuchs Find Himself Here?'

The obvious place to start is: how did Fuchs end up here? 'I guess that's the part that's unpredictable, right?' he comments, letting out laughter. This serves as the 39-year-old's opening gambit and a clear demonstration of his charismatic character across a fascinating conversation. The discussion runs in various tangents, from being managed by the current England boss and Brendan Rodgers to the urgent quest to find a local barber.

He opens some post on his desk. Included is a letter from a Leicester supporter offering encouragement, along with a couple of shiny pictures from that memorable year. {'Young Fuchs,' he remarks, with a smile. Another delivery brings a hoard of old stickers, one from an album celebrating Euro 2016, when he led Austria. A note from the Newport Supporters’ Club has pride of place. 'Stuff like this really makes me very content,' he adds.

A Prior Encounter and a Misspelt Name

Until coming back from North Carolina to accept his first job in frontline management last month, Fuchs’s most recent encounter to Rodney Parade was in January 2019, when Leicester endured a Newport shock defeat in the FA Cup third round. During that match David Pipe duelled against Fuchs. {'He had the game of his career,' Fuchs recalls. But when the lineup cards dropped, an amusing error emerged. {'You need to redact this,' Fuchs jokes. 'They misspelt my name – somehow a 'k' smuggled itself in in place of the 'h'. It is amusing because Fuchs, in German, means fox, so it’s something nice.'

Lessons from Claudio, Rodgers and Tuchel

His choice to join the Foxes in the summer of 2015 was 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 worked wonders. {'When you see Claudio you envision an elder gentleman, so long in the business, maybe a bit traditional, but he’s the complete opposite,' Fuchs states. {'He just said he was going to monitor training in Austria for the first week. He didn’t get involved 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 change anything.''

Fuchs holds dear experiences from Rodgers and Tuchel, under whom he worked while on loan at Mainz. {'He always thought: ‘How can I get more out of the players? How can I test them psychologically?’’ Fuchs says of Tuchel. {'That’s a significant part of our philosophy as well. How can you make good players who choose wisely? Back then he was probably in a similar situation to where I am now … very focused, very eager to prove himself.'

Background and a Determined Mindset

Fuchs’s drive originates in his early years 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 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 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 character is: I’m quite stubborn. If I see promise, I’m making it happen.'

Data-Driven Approach and the Battle 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, displaying a slide he used with his players. {'The team hit several season highs,' he explains, noting ball progression and statistics about penetrating defensive lines. Passing accuracy was shown as 87%. {'Not happy with that … that needs to be in the mid-90s,' he states. {'My first game, it was very long-ball, fourth-tier football, but we want to be distinct. I think a five-yard pass has a higher probability to find its target than just hoofing it all the time.'

The overarching numbers paint sobering reading. Newport have secured 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 won a game 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 earned a valuable point. {'We need to be a dominant side at home,' Fuchs stresses. {'It’s just not satisfactory, not even having a win. We need to construct a impenetrable home.'

Still a Player 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 heart of the battle. {'I’m a component of the group. I’m still a player inside,' he states, tapping his chest. {'At training I’m always participating in the small-sided games – two nutmegs already, get in! I want us to view each other as one team. Yes, you’re the ones on the field, but we’re all in this together, we’re working on this as one.'