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'I reckon that the odds of us turning the season around are slimmer than Leicester claiming the Premier League, so they are in our benefit, right?' Christian Fuchs is talking about his fresh chapter as head coach of the Football League's bottom club, and the immense task of preventing a fall into non-league football. It is a challenge at the complete other end of the spectrum, though that miraculous title win in 2016 provided him with a great deal more than a Premier League trophy. {'It contributed to shifting my mindset a little bit ... it demonstrated that the impossible can be possible,' he remarks.

The Illogical Path to Rodney Parade

The obvious place to start is: what brought Fuchs wind up here? 'I guess that's the part that's unpredictable, right?' he says, breaking into a laugh. This serves as the 39-year-old's opening gambit and a clear sign of his playful character across a colourful conversation. Our talk flows in various tangents, from playing for the current England boss and the former Leicester manager to the urgent quest to find a local barber.

He opens some post on his desk. There is a letter from a Leicester supporter sending best wishes, along with a couple of glossy photos from that campaign. {'Young Fuchs,' he says, with a smile. Another envelope brings a hoard of old collector's items, one from an album marking Euro 2016, when he led Austria. A card from the Newport Supporters’ Club is displayed prominently. Things like this genuinely makes me very content,' he concludes.

A Past Trip and a Misspelt Name

Until returning from North Carolina to take on his first job in senior management last month, Fuchs’s previous visit to Rodney Parade was in January 2019, when Leicester suffered a Newport cupset in the FA Cup third round. On that occasion the Newport kit man competed with Fuchs. {'He had the match of his life,' Fuchs recalls. But when the teamsheets were released, an amusing error was discovered. {'You need to redact this,' Fuchs jokes. 'They misspelled my name – somehow a 'k' found its way in in place of the 'h'. It is funny because Fuchs, in German, means fox, so it’s something pleasant.'

Lessons from Ranieri, Rodgers and Tuchel

His move to join the Foxes in the summer of 2015 turned out to be a masterstroke. A couple of weeks later Leicester hired Claudio Ranieri and the rest is history. The Italian arrived at the club in the midst of a pre-season camp in Austria and his observational approach worked wonders. {'When you look at Claudio you picture an older man, so a veteran of the sport, maybe a bit set in his ways, but he’s the complete opposite,' Fuchs says. {'He just said he was going to watch 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 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 pondered: ‘How can I get more out of the players? How can I challenge them mentally?’’ Fuchs says of Tuchel. {'That’s a big part of our methodology as well. How can you make good players who choose wisely? Back then he was probably in a comparable position to where I am now … very motivated, very anxious to prove himself.'

Background and a Resolute Character

Fuchs’s motivation comes from 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 shares. {'There are people who let that defeat them or there are people who say: ‘Forget you, I’m going to show you.’ I’ve been told too many times: ‘You can not do this, you can't 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 possibility, I’m going for it.'

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 data from a recent 2-2 draw, displaying a slide he showed his players. {'The team hit several season bests,' he explains, emphasizing ball progression and statistics about getting behind defensive lines. Passing accuracy was logged at 87%. {'Not satisfied with that … that needs to be in the 90-95% range,' he states. {'My first game, it was very direct, fourth-tier football, but we want to be distinct. I think a five-yard pass has a higher percentage to be successful than just going long all the time.'

The overarching numbers present grim 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 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 precious point. {'We need to be a power at home,' Fuchs stresses. {'It’s just not acceptable, not even having a win. We need to construct a fortress.'

In the Thick of It at Heart

By his own confession, 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 thick of things. {'I’m a part of the group. I’m still a player inside,' he says, pointing to his chest. {'At training I’m always getting involved in the small-sided games – two nutmegs already, yes! I want us to see each other as a unified group. Yes, you’re the ones on the field, but we’re a collective, we’re tackling this collectively.'