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'I estimate that the odds of us reviving our campaign are slimmer than Leicester claiming the Premier League, so they are in our favour, right?' Christian Fuchs is talking about his new life as boss of the Football League's bottom club, and the immense task of staving off a drop into non-league football. This represents a challenge at the polar opposite of the spectrum of success, though that unbelievable title win in 2016 gave him much more than a champion's gong. {'It contributed to shifting my outlook a little bit ... it proved that the impossible can be attainable,' he notes.

The Surprising Path to Rodney Parade

The logical place to start is: how did Fuchs find himself here? 'That's the element of the story that seems counterintuitive, wouldn't you say?' he states, erupting in a laugh. This serves as the 39-year-old's initial statement and a clear sign of his playful character across a colourful conversation. The discussion flows in various tangents, from being managed by the current England boss and Brendan Rodgers to the immediate requirement to find a local barber.

He looks at some correspondence on his desk. Included is a note from a Leicester supporter sending best wishes, along with a couple of glossy photos from that memorable year. {'Young Fuchs,' he muses, smiling. Another delivery brings a hoard of old Panini stickers, one from an album commemorating Euro 2016, when he led Austria. A greeting from the Newport Supporters’ Club has pride of place. Items like this makes me very pleased,' he concludes.

A Previous Visit and a Misspelt Name

Prior to returning from North Carolina to accept his first job in frontline management 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 duelled against Fuchs. {'He had the game of his career,' Fuchs recalls. But when the official sheets were released, an interesting error was discovered. {'You need to censor this,' Fuchs remarks. 'They got wrong 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 nice.'

Experiences from Claudio, Rodgers and Tuchel

His move to join the Foxes in the summer of 2015 turned out to be brilliant. A couple of weeks later Leicester hired Claudio Ranieri and the rest is history. The Italian arrived at the club in the midst of a pre-season camp in Austria and his light-touch approach worked wonders. {'When you observe Claudio you envision an elder gentleman, so experienced in the game, maybe a bit old school, but he’s so not,' Fuchs states. {'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 watched you for a week and I’m not going to modify anything.''

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

Roots and a Stubborn Nature

Fuchs’s motivation 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 good enough,' he shares. {'There are people who let that get the better of them or there are people who say: ‘Fuchs 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 prove that I can and give absolutely everything. The other thing about my make-up is: I’m pretty determined. If I see potential, I’m going for it.'

Detailed Approach and the Fight 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 analytics from a recent 2-2 draw, displaying a slide he showed his players. {'The team hit many, many season highs,' he points out, noting ball progression and statistics about getting behind defensive lines. Passing accuracy was recorded at 87%. {'Not satisfied with that … that needs to be in the mid-90s,' he states. {'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 be successful than just hoofing it all the time.'

The general numbers paint bleak 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 injury-time equaliser with 10 men secured a precious point. {'We need to be a dominant side at home,' Fuchs says. {'It’s just not good enough, not even having a win. We need to build a stronghold.'

One of the Lads at Heart

By his own acknowledgement, Fuchs likes 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 at heart,' he says, pointing to his chest. {'At training I’m always joining in in the boxes – two megs already, yes! I want us to see each other as a single unit. Yes, you’re the ones on the field, but we’re one team, we’re tackling this together.'