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'The probability of a late surge is arguably less likely than that historic 5,000-1 title, which logically puts the odds in our favour.' Christian Fuchs is reflecting on his new life as head coach of the League Two strugglers, and the daunting task of averting a descent into non-league football. This represents a challenge at the polar opposite of the spectrum of success, 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 demonstrated that the unthinkable can be possible,' he states.

'How Did Fuchs Wind Up Here?'

The natural place to start is: how did Fuchs find himself here? 'That's the aspect of the story that defies logic, wouldn't you say?' he states, breaking into a laugh. This remark acts as the 39-year-old's opening gambit and a clear demonstration of his engaging character across a wide-ranging conversation. Discourse travels in various tangents, from being managed by Thomas Tuchel and the former Leicester manager to the pressing need to find a barber in the area.

He looks at some post on his desk. There is a message from a Leicester supporter sending best wishes, along with a couple of shiny pictures from that memorable year. {'Young Fuchs,' he remarks, smiling. Another envelope brings a collection of old stickers, one from an album marking Euro 2016, when he captained Austria. A greeting from the Newport Supporters’ Club has pride of place. 'Stuff like this really makes me very happy,' he concludes.

A Prior Encounter and a Funny Mistake

Until coming back 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 were on the end of a Newport giantkilling in the FA Cup third round. That day a former full-back faced off against Fuchs. {'He had the match of his career,' Fuchs says. But when the lineup cards dropped, an amusing error was discovered. {'You need to redact 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 nice.'

Insights from Ranieri, Rodgers and Tuchel

His choice to join the Foxes in the summer of 2015 proved inspired. 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 light-touch approach produced miracles. {'When you see Claudio you envision an older man, so long in the business, maybe a bit old school, but he’s the complete opposite,' Fuchs states. {'He just said he was going to observe 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 cherishes 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 challenge them mentally?’’ Fuchs says of Tuchel. {'That’s a big part of our philosophy as well. How can you make good thinkers on the pitch? Back then he was probably in a similar situation to where I am now … very driven, very anxious to prove himself.'

Roots and a Stubborn Nature

Fuchs’s determination comes from his childhood 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 discloses. {'There are people who let that get the better of them or there are people who say: ‘Watch me, I’m going to show you.’ I’ve been told too many times: ‘You cannot do this, you can't do that.’ I’m going to demonstrate that I can and work my socks off. The other thing about my personality is: I’m very headstrong. If I see potential, I’m doing it.'

Detailed Approach and the Struggle for Survival

Fuchs’s assistant, Mark Smith, was born in Newport and previously led Fuchs’s Fox Soccer Academy. Fuchs fires up his laptop to show analytics from a recent 2-2 draw, sharing a slide he used with his players. {'The team hit numerous season peaks,' he points out, highlighting ball progression and statistics about penetrating defensive lines. Passing accuracy was shown as 87%. {'Not happy with that … that needs to be in the 90-95% range,' he declares. {'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 find its target than just hoofing it all the time.'

The overarching 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 earned a valuable point. {'We need to be a force at home,' Fuchs emphasizes. {'It’s just not good enough, not even having a win. We need to construct a stronghold.'

One of the Lads at Heart

By his own confession, Fuchs likes 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 heart of the battle. {'I’m a member of the group. I’m still a player in here,' he says, pointing to his chest. {'At training I’m always participating in the drills – two megs already, brilliant! I want us to regard each other as a unified group. Yes, you’re the ones on the field, but we’re a collective, we’re working on this collectively.'