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'I reckon that the chances of us transforming our fortunes are lower than Leicester claiming the Premier League, so they are in our favour, right?' The Austrian veteran is discussing his recent venture as boss of the Football League's bottom club, and the daunting task of preventing a drop into non-league football. This represents a challenge at the complete other end of the scale, though that unbelievable title win in 2016 provided him with far more than a Premier League trophy. {'It helped change my mindset a little bit ... it demonstrated that the unthinkable can be attainable,' he remarks.

'How Did Fuchs End Up Here?'

The natural place to start is: what brought Fuchs wind up here? 'That's the aspect of the story that seems counterintuitive, wouldn't you say?' he says, breaking into laughter. This remark acts as the 39-year-old's opening gambit and a clear sign of his charismatic character across a colourful conversation. Discourse travels in multiple pathways, from being managed by the current England boss and the former Leicester manager to the urgent quest to find a nearby hairdresser.

He sorts through some correspondence on his desk. Among it is a message from a Leicester supporter sending best wishes, accompanied by a couple of shiny pictures from that campaign. {'Young Fuchs,' he muses, with a smile. Another package brings a hoard of old Panini stickers, one from an album celebrating Euro 2016, when he captained Austria. A note from the Newport Supporters’ Club has pride of place. Things like this makes me very happy,' he adds.

A Past Trip and a Funny Mistake

Prior to 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 David Pipe duelled against Fuchs. {'He had the game of his career,' Fuchs says. But when the official sheets were released, an curious error came to light. {'You need to redact this,' Fuchs remarks. 'They misspelled my name – somehow a 'k' smuggled itself in in place of the 'h'. It is funny because Fuchs, in German, means fox, so it’s something fitting.'

Lessons from Claudio, Rodgers and Tuchel

His decision to join the Foxes in the summer of 2015 turned out to be brilliant. A couple of weeks later Leicester brought in Claudio Ranieri and an iconic story unfolded. The Italian came to the club in the heart of a pre-season camp in Austria and his hands-off approach did the trick. {'When you observe Claudio you envision an elder gentleman, so a veteran of the sport, maybe a bit set in his ways, but he’s the complete opposite,' Fuchs explains. {'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 insights gained 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 challenge them psychologically?’’ Fuchs says of Tuchel. {'That’s a major part of our approach 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 driven, very eager to prove himself.'

Roots and a Determined Nature

Fuchs’s determination comes from his upbringing 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 shares. {'There are people who let that defeat them or there are people who say: ‘Watch me, I’m going to show you.’ I’ve been told too many times: ‘You cannot do this, you can't do that.’ I’m going to demonstrate 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 doing it.'

Analytical Approach and the Battle for Survival

Fuchs’s assistant, Mark Smith, was born in Newport and formerly ran Fuchs’s Fox Soccer Academy. Fuchs fires up his laptop to show data from a recent 2-2 draw, sharing a slide he showed his players. {'The team hit several season bests,' he says, highlighting ball progression and statistics about breaking defensive lines. Passing accuracy was shown as 87%. {'Not satisfied with that … that needs to be in the 90-95% range,' he insists. {'My first game, it was very direct, lower-league football, but we want to be distinct. I think a five-yard pass has a higher probability to arrive than just hoofing it all the time.'

The broader 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 93rd-minute equaliser with 10 men earned a crucial point. {'We need to be a dominant side at home,' Fuchs emphasizes. {'It’s just not satisfactory, not even having a win. We need to create a fortress.'

One of the Lads at Heart

By his own admission, Fuchs relishes a challenge. {'What’s so negative with that?' He retired less than three years ago and, like Tuchel, enjoys being in the middle of the action. {'I’m a part of the group. I’m still a player inside,' he remarks, tapping his chest. {'At training I’m always getting involved in the drills – two nutmegs already, brilliant! I want us to regard each other as a unified group. Yes, you’re the ones on the field, but we’re one team, we’re working on this as one.'