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'I would say that the chances of us transforming our fortunes are slimmer than Leicester lifting the Premier League, so they are in our favour, right?' The Austrian veteran is talking about his recent venture as boss of the Football League's bottom club, and the immense task of preventing a descent into non-league football. Here lies a challenge at the polar opposite of the spectrum of success, though that fairytale title win in 2016 furnished him a great deal more than a Premier League trophy. {'It assisted in altering my perspective a little bit ... it demonstrated that the unattainable can be attainable,' he notes.

'How Did Fuchs Find Himself Here?'

The natural place to start is: how did Fuchs end up here? 'That's the part of the story that isn't straightforward, wouldn't you say?' he says, letting out a chuckle. This serves as the 39-year-old's opening gambit and a clear sign of his playful character across a colourful conversation. Discourse flows in various tangents, from working under the current England boss and the former Leicester manager to the urgent quest to find a nearby hairdresser.

He opens some correspondence on his desk. Among it is a message from a Leicester supporter offering encouragement, paired with a couple of shiny pictures from that campaign. {'Young Fuchs,' he muses, with a smile. Another delivery brings a collection of old stickers, one from an album commemorating Euro 2016, when he led Austria. A note from the Newport Supporters’ Club has pride of place. Items like this makes me very content,' he states.

A Previous Visit and a Typographical Error

Until coming back from North Carolina to take on his first job in senior management last month, Fuchs’s last trip to Rodney Parade was in January 2019, when Leicester endured a Newport shock defeat in the FA Cup third round. That day a former full-back faced off against Fuchs. {'He had the game of his career,' Fuchs recalls. But when the official sheets were released, an amusing error emerged. {'You need to edit this,' Fuchs remarks. 'They misspelled my name – somehow a 'k' crept in in place of the 'h'. It is hilarious because Fuchs, in German, means fox, so it’s something pleasant.'

Insights from Ranieri, Rodgers and Tuchel

His decision to join the Foxes in the summer of 2015 was inspired. A couple of weeks later Leicester appointed Claudio Ranieri and what followed is legendary. The Italian came to the club in the middle of a pre-season camp in Austria and his hands-off approach did the trick. {'When you observe Claudio you picture an older man, so long in the business, maybe a bit old school, but he’s anything but,' Fuchs says. {'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 watched you for a week and I’m not going to alter anything.''

Fuchs holds dear 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 test them psychologically?’’ Fuchs says of Tuchel. {'That’s a big part of our methodology as well. How can you make good thinkers on the pitch? Back then he was probably in a analogous place to where I am now … very motivated, very anxious to prove himself.'

Origins and a Resolute Mindset

Fuchs’s motivation comes from his childhood 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 discloses. {'There are people who let that defeat them or there are people who say: ‘Fuchs 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 demonstrate that I can and give absolutely everything. The other thing about my personality is: I’m quite headstrong. 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 formerly ran Fuchs’s Fox Soccer Academy. Fuchs opens his laptop to show statistics from a recent 2-2 draw, displaying a slide he presented to his players. {'The team hit numerous season bests,' he points out, highlighting ball progression and statistics about getting behind defensive lines. Passing accuracy was recorded at 87%. {'Not happy with that … that needs to be in the 90-95% range,' he declares. {'My first game, it was very direct, lower-league football, but we want to be different. I think a five-yard pass has a higher percentage to find its target than just hoofing it all the time.'

The overarching numbers make bleak 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 secured three points 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 valuable 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 build a impenetrable home.'

In the Thick of It at Heart

By his own admission, Fuchs enjoys a challenge. {'What’s so negative 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 part of the group. I’m still a player at heart,' he states, 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 collectively.'