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'I estimate that the chances of us turning the season around are less than Leicester winning the Premier League, so they are in our favor, right?' Christian Fuchs is talking about his recent venture as manager of the Football League's bottom club, and the immense task of staving off a descent 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 Premier League trophy. {'It helped change my perspective a little bit ... it proved that the impossible can be attainable,' he remarks.

The Unlikely Path to Rodney Parade

The logical place to start is: what was the journey that led Fuchs find himself here? 'That's the element of the story that seems counterintuitive, wouldn't you say?' he says, letting out laughter. This serves as the 39-year-old's opening gambit and a clear sign of his charismatic character across a fascinating conversation. Discourse flows in different directions, from being managed by the current England boss and the former Leicester manager to the pressing need to find a local barber.

He sorts through some correspondence on his desk. There is a letter from a Leicester supporter wishing him well, paired with a couple of shiny pictures from that memorable year. {'Young Fuchs,' he muses, smiling. Another package brings a collection of old stickers, one from an album celebrating Euro 2016, when he led Austria. A note from the Newport Supporters’ Club is given special attention. 'Stuff like this genuinely makes me very happy,' he concludes.

A Past Trip and a Funny Mistake

Until returning from North Carolina to assume his first job in first-team coaching 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 faced off against Fuchs. {'He had the game of his career,' Fuchs says. But when the lineup cards came out, an amusing error was discovered. {'You need to edit this,' Fuchs says with a smile. 'They misspelled 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 nice.'

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 brought in Claudio Ranieri and what followed is legendary. The Italian arrived at the club in the midst of a pre-season camp in Austria and his hands-off approach did the trick. {'When you see Claudio you envision an older man, so experienced in the game, maybe a bit traditional, but he’s anything but,' Fuchs states. {'He just said he was going to monitor training in Austria for the first week. He remained on the sidelines 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 modify 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 extra out of the players? How can I test them mentally?’’ 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 comparable position to where I am now … very driven, very eager to prove himself.'

Roots and a Stubborn Nature

Fuchs’s motivation originates in his early years 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 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 can not 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 personality is: I’m pretty stubborn. If I see potential, I’m making it happen.'

Detailed Approach and the Struggle for Survival

Fuchs’s assistant, Mark Smith, was born in Newport and formerly ran Fuchs’s Fox Soccer Academy. Fuchs opens his laptop to show statistics from a recent 2-2 draw, displaying a slide he used with his players. {'The team hit many, many season peaks,' he says, noting 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, lower-league football, but we want to be unique. I think a five-yard pass has a higher chance to arrive than just going long all the time.'

The overarching numbers paint sobering 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 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 crucial point. {'We need to be a force at home,' Fuchs emphasizes. {'It’s just not satisfactory, not even having a win. We need to construct a stronghold.'

In the Thick of It at Heart

By his own confession, Fuchs enjoys a challenge. {'What’s so bad 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 states, indicating his chest. {'At training I’m always participating in the drills – two pannas 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 striving towards this collectively.'