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'I would say that the chances of us turning the season around are less than Leicester lifting the Premier League, so they are in our favor, right?' The Austrian veteran is discussing his fresh chapter as head coach of the League Two strugglers, and the daunting task of averting a descent into non-league football. Here lies a challenge at the polar opposite of the scale, though that unbelievable title win in 2016 gave him a great deal more than a Premier League trophy. {'It helped change my outlook a little bit ... it demonstrated that the impossible can be attainable,' he remarks.

'How Did Fuchs End Up Here?'

The natural place to start is: how did Fuchs find himself here? 'That's the element of the story that defies logic, wouldn't you say?' he says, breaking into laughter. This remark acts as the 39-year-old's opening gambit and a clear indication of his engaging character across a fascinating conversation. Our talk runs in various tangents, from working under the current England boss and Brendan Rodgers to the pressing need to find a nearby hairdresser.

He looks at some correspondence on his desk. Included is a note from a Leicester supporter sending best wishes, paired with a couple of professional photographs from that season. {'Young Fuchs,' he remarks, grinning. Another package brings a hoard of old Panini stickers, one from an album celebrating Euro 2016, when he captained Austria. A card from the Newport Supporters’ Club is given special attention. 'Stuff like this makes me very pleased,' he concludes.

A Past Trip and a Misspelt Name

Until his move back from North Carolina to accept his first job in first-team coaching last month, Fuchs’s most recent encounter to Rodney Parade was in January 2019, when Leicester suffered 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 career,' Fuchs recalls. But when the official sheets came out, an interesting error emerged. {'You need to edit this,' Fuchs says with a smile. 'They got wrong my name – somehow a 'k' smuggled itself in in place of the 'h'. It is hilarious because Fuchs, in German, means fox, so it’s something fitting.'

Insights from Claudio, Rodgers and Tuchel

His move to join the Foxes in the summer of 2015 proved inspired. A couple of weeks later Leicester brought in Claudio Ranieri and the rest is history. The Italian came to the club in the middle of a pre-season camp in Austria and his light-touch approach worked wonders. {'When you look at Claudio you picture an older man, so experienced in the game, maybe a bit traditional, 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 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 considered: ‘How can I get extra out of the players? How can I test them mentally?’’ Fuchs says of Tuchel. {'That’s a big part of our methodology 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 eager to prove himself.'

Origins and a Determined Mindset

Fuchs’s motivation comes from his childhood 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 capable enough,' he shares. {'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 not do this, you cannot do that.’ I’m going to show that I can and put in the hard yards. The other thing about my make-up is: I’m pretty stubborn. If I see possibility, I’m making it happen.'

Analytical Approach and the Battle for Survival

Fuchs’s assistant, Mark Smith, was born in Newport and had been in charge of Fuchs’s Fox Soccer Academy. Fuchs boots up his laptop to show statistics from a recent 2-2 draw, sharing a slide he presented to his players. {'The team hit several season bests,' he explains, noting ball progression and statistics about getting behind defensive lines. Passing accuracy was shown as 87%. {'Not pleased with that … that needs to be in the 90-95% range,' he declares. {'My first game, it was very long-ball, League Two 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 general numbers paint bleak reading. Newport have secured 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 93rd-minute equaliser with 10 men secured a precious point. {'We need to be a force 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 confession, Fuchs likes a challenge. {'What’s so wrong with that?' He ended his playing career less than three years ago and, like Tuchel, loves being in the thick of things. {'I’m a component of the group. I’m still a player inside,' he states, tapping his chest. {'At training I’m always joining in in the small-sided games – two nutmegs already, brilliant! I want us to see each other as a single unit. Yes, you’re the ones on the field, but we’re all in this together, we’re striving towards this together.'