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'I estimate that the likelihood of us transforming our fortunes are less than Leicester claiming the Premier League, so they are in our favour, right?' The Austrian veteran is discussing his new life as head coach of the Football League's bottom club, and the monumental task of preventing a fall into non-league football. Here lies a challenge at the complete other end of the spectrum, though that fairytale title win in 2016 furnished him far more than a winner's medal. {'It contributed to shifting my outlook a little bit ... it demonstrated that the impossible can be achievable,' he remarks.

The Surprising Path to Rodney Parade

The logical place to start is: what brought Fuchs wind up here? 'I imagine that's the part that's unpredictable, right?' he states, breaking into a chuckle. This serves as the 39-year-old's opening gambit and a clear sign of his charismatic character across a wide-ranging conversation. Discourse flows in various tangents, from playing for Thomas Tuchel and the former Leicester manager to the urgent quest to find a barber in the area.

He sorts through some correspondence on his desk. Among it is a letter from a Leicester supporter offering encouragement, along with a couple of professional photographs from that memorable year. {'Young Fuchs,' he muses, smiling. Another envelope brings a stash of old Panini stickers, one from an album commemorating Euro 2016, when he skippered Austria. A note from the Newport Supporters’ Club is displayed prominently. Things like this makes me very happy,' he concludes.

A Past Trip and a Typographical Error

Until his move back from North Carolina to take on his first job in frontline management last month, Fuchs’s last trip to Rodney Parade was in January 2019, when Leicester were on the end of a Newport shock defeat in the FA Cup third round. On that occasion David Pipe competed with Fuchs. {'He had the game of his career,' Fuchs admits. But when the official sheets dropped, an curious error emerged. {'You need to edit this,' Fuchs jokes. 'They misspelt 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 pleasant.'

Experiences from Claudio, Rodgers and Tuchel

His choice to join the Foxes in the summer of 2015 proved inspired. A couple of weeks later Leicester appointed Claudio Ranieri and what followed is legendary. The Italian joined the club in the midst of a pre-season camp in Austria and his hands-off approach produced miracles. {'When you observe Claudio you imagine an seasoned professional, so long in the business, maybe a bit traditional, but he’s so not,' Fuchs states. {'He just said he was going to watch 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 studied you for a week and I’m not going to change anything.''

Fuchs values lessons learned from Rodgers and Tuchel, under whom he worked while on loan at Mainz. {'He always thought: ‘How can I get more out of the players? How can I test them psychologically?’’ Fuchs says of Tuchel. {'That’s a major part of our philosophy as well. How can you make good decision-makers? Back then he was probably in a analogous place to where I am now … very motivated, very anxious to prove himself.'

Roots and a Resolute Mindset

Fuchs’s motivation comes from his early years 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 good enough,' he discloses. {'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't do this, you cannot 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 very determined. If I see possibility, I’m making it happen.'

Detailed Approach and the Fight for Survival

Fuchs’s assistant, Mark Smith, was born in Newport and previously led Fuchs’s Fox Soccer Academy. Fuchs boots up his laptop to show data from a recent 2-2 draw, sharing a slide he used with his players. {'The team hit several season highs,' he points out, emphasizing ball progression and statistics about penetrating defensive lines. Passing accuracy was shown as 87%. {'Not satisfied with that … that needs to be in the 90-95% range,' he states. {'My first game, it was very direct, League Two football, but we want to be different. I think a five-yard pass has a higher probability to be successful than just hoofing it all the time.'

The broader numbers present grim reading. Newport have managed three of 19 league matches and are yet to win 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 injury-time equaliser with 10 men earned a valuable point. {'We need to be a force at home,' Fuchs says. {'It’s just not acceptable, not even having a win. We need to build a impenetrable home.'

In the Thick of It at Heart

By his own confession, Fuchs relishes a challenge. {'What’s so negative 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 in here,' he says, pointing to his chest. {'At training I’m always joining in in the small-sided games – two nutmegs already, yes! I want us to view each other as a unified group. Yes, you’re the ones on the field, but we’re one team, we’re striving towards this as one.'