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'I reckon that the likelihood of us reviving our campaign are slimmer than Leicester lifting the Premier League, so they are in our benefit, right?' Christian Fuchs is talking about his recent venture as head coach of Newport County, and the immense task of staving off a fall into non-league football. Here lies a challenge at the complete other end of the spectrum of success, though that unbelievable title win in 2016 provided him with much more than a winner's medal. {'It helped change my outlook a little bit ... it demonstrated that the unattainable can be possible,' he notes.

'How Did Fuchs Find Himself Here?'

The logical place to start is: what was the journey that led Fuchs find himself here? 'That's the element of the story that defies logic, wouldn't you say?' he says, letting out a chuckle. This remark acts as the 39-year-old's opening gambit and a clear indication of his charismatic character across a wide-ranging conversation. Discourse flows in multiple pathways, from playing for the current England boss and the former Leicester manager to the pressing need to find a nearby hairdresser.

He sorts through some mail on his desk. Among it is a note from a Leicester supporter wishing him well, accompanied by a couple of shiny pictures from that campaign. {'Young Fuchs,' he says, smiling. Another delivery brings a stash of old stickers, one from an album marking Euro 2016, when he led Austria. A note from the Newport Supporters’ Club has pride of place. Items like this makes me very pleased,' he states.

A Past Trip and a Misspelt Name

Prior to returning from North Carolina to take on his first job in first-team coaching last month, Fuchs’s previous visit 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 the Newport kit man duelled against Fuchs. {'He had the match of his life,' Fuchs says. But when the official sheets came out, an interesting error was discovered. {'You need to censor this,' Fuchs says with a smile. '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 pleasant.'

Lessons from Ranieri, Rodgers and Tuchel

His decision to join the Foxes in the summer of 2015 turned out to be a masterstroke. A couple of weeks later Leicester brought in Claudio Ranieri and what followed is legendary. The Italian came to the club in the midst of a pre-season camp in Austria and his hands-off approach worked wonders. {'When you see Claudio you envision an elder gentleman, so experienced in the game, maybe a bit traditional, but he’s so not,' Fuchs states. {'He just said he was going to monitor 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 alter anything.''

Fuchs holds dear experiences from Rodgers and Tuchel, under whom he worked while on loan at Mainz. {'He always pondered: ‘How can I get more out of the players? How can I push them psychologically?’’ Fuchs says of Tuchel. {'That’s a big 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.'

Origins and a Determined Character

Fuchs’s drive 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 capable enough,' he reveals. {'There are people who let that overcome 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 cannot do that.’ I’m going to demonstrate that I can and put in the hard yards. The other thing about my make-up is: I’m very determined. If I see promise, 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 boots up his laptop to show statistics from a recent 2-2 draw, presenting a slide he showed his players. {'The team hit several season peaks,' he explains, emphasizing 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 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 broader numbers paint sobering reading. Newport have managed three of 19 league matches and are winless 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 crucial point. {'We need to be a dominant side at home,' Fuchs stresses. {'It’s just not good enough, not even having a win. We need to create a fortress.'

In the Thick of It at Heart

By his own confession, Fuchs relishes a challenge. {'What’s so bad with that?' He ended his playing career less than three years ago and, like Tuchel, likes being in the heart of the battle. {'I’m a part of the group. I’m still a player in here,' he remarks, pointing to his chest. {'At training I’m always participating in the drills – two pannas already, yes! I want us to regard 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.'