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'I reckon that the chances of us transforming our fortunes are slimmer than Leicester winning the Premier League, so they are in our favour, right?' The Austrian veteran is reflecting on his recent venture as manager of Newport County, and the monumental task of averting a drop into non-league football. Here lies a challenge at the polar opposite of the scale, though that unbelievable title win in 2016 furnished him much more than a champion's gong. {'It assisted in altering my mindset a little bit ... it demonstrated that the unthinkable can be attainable,' he states.

The Surprising Path to Rodney Parade

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, letting out a laugh. This serves as the 39-year-old's opening gambit and a clear indication of his charismatic character across a wide-ranging conversation. Discourse flows in multiple pathways, from working under Thomas Tuchel and the former Leicester manager to the urgent quest to find a nearby hairdresser.

He looks at some mail on his desk. Among it is a letter from a Leicester supporter sending best wishes, accompanied by a couple of professional photographs from that memorable year. {'Young Fuchs,' he muses, with a smile. Another delivery brings a hoard of old stickers, one from an album celebrating Euro 2016, when he captained Austria. A greeting from the Newport Supporters’ Club is given special attention. Things like this genuinely makes me very happy,' he states.

A Past Trip and a Misspelt Name

Prior to returning from North Carolina to accept his first job in first-team coaching last month, Fuchs’s previous visit to Rodney Parade was in January 2019, when Leicester endured a Newport cupset in the FA Cup third round. On that occasion the Newport kit man competed with Fuchs. {'He had the performance of his life,' Fuchs says. But when the official sheets dropped, 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 brilliant. A couple of weeks later Leicester hired Claudio Ranieri and the rest is history. 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 seasoned professional, so experienced in the game, maybe a bit old school, but he’s anything but,' Fuchs states. {'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 watched you for a week and I’m not going to alter anything.''

Fuchs cherishes insights gained from Rodgers and Tuchel, under whom he worked while on loan at Mainz. {'He always thought: ‘How can I get additional out of the players? How can I push them mentally?’’ Fuchs says of Tuchel. {'That’s a big part of our philosophy as well. How can you make good decision-makers? Back then he was probably in a comparable position to where I am now … very driven, very eager to prove himself.'

Roots and a Determined Character

Fuchs’s motivation stems from his upbringing 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 reveals. {'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 cannot do this, you can not do that.’ I’m going to show that I can and give absolutely everything. The other thing about my personality is: I’m quite stubborn. If I see promise, I’m going for it.'

Data-Driven 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 fires up his laptop to show analytics from a recent 2-2 draw, displaying a slide he presented to his players. {'The team hit numerous season bests,' he points out, noting ball progression and statistics about penetrating defensive lines. Passing accuracy was logged at 87%. {'Not pleased with that … that needs to be in the 90-95% range,' he declares. {'My first game, it was very physical, lower-league football, but we want to be unique. I think a five-yard pass has a higher probability to find its target than just going long all the time.'

The general numbers paint grim reading. Newport have won 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 garnered a valuable point. {'We need to be a force at home,' Fuchs says. {'It’s just not satisfactory, not even having a win. We need to build a impenetrable home.'

Still a Player at Heart

By his own acknowledgement, Fuchs relishes a challenge. {'What’s so bad with that?' He ended his playing career 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 says, pointing to his chest. {'At training I’m always getting involved in the drills – 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 one team, we’re tackling this together.'