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'I would say that the odds of us transforming our fortunes are less than Leicester winning the Premier League, so they are in our favor, right?' The Austrian veteran is talking about his recent venture as manager of the Football League's bottom club, and the monumental task of averting a fall into non-league football. It is a challenge at the polar opposite of the spectrum of success, though that unbelievable title win in 2016 gave him far more than a champion's gong. {'It helped change my outlook a little bit ... it showed that the unattainable can be attainable,' he states.

The Unlikely Path to Rodney Parade

The obvious place to start is: how did Fuchs find himself here? 'I suppose that's the part that's not logical, right?' he comments, erupting in a chuckle. This serves as the 39-year-old's introductory line and a clear demonstration of his playful character across a colourful conversation. The discussion flows in various tangents, from working under the current England boss and Brendan Rodgers to the pressing need to find a barber in the area.

He looks at some post on his desk. There is a note from a Leicester supporter offering encouragement, paired with a couple of shiny pictures from that campaign. {'Young Fuchs,' he says, smiling. Another package brings a hoard of old Panini stickers, one from an album marking Euro 2016, when he led Austria. A note from the Newport Supporters’ Club is given special attention. 'Stuff like this makes me very pleased,' he states.

A Past Trip and a Misspelt Name

Prior to coming back from North Carolina to accept his first job in first-team coaching 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 the Newport kit man faced off against Fuchs. {'He had the performance of his career,' Fuchs says. But when the teamsheets were released, an interesting error came to light. {'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 amusing because Fuchs, in German, means fox, so it’s something fitting.'

Lessons from Claudio, Rodgers and Tuchel

His decision to join the Foxes in the summer of 2015 was brilliant. A couple of weeks later Leicester hired Claudio Ranieri and the rest is history. The Italian joined the club in the middle of a pre-season camp in Austria and his light-touch approach produced miracles. {'When you see Claudio you imagine an elder gentleman, so a veteran of the sport, maybe a bit old school, but he’s so not,' Fuchs explains. {'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 modify anything.''

Fuchs holds dear experiences from Rodgers and Tuchel, under whom he worked while on loan at Mainz. {'He always considered: ‘How can I get additional out of the players? How can I push 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 comparable position to where I am now … very driven, very keen to prove himself.'

Origins and a Stubborn Nature

Fuchs’s motivation originates in his upbringing 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 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 not do this, you can't do that.’ I’m going to prove that I can and give absolutely everything. The other thing about my character is: I’m quite stubborn. If I see promise, I’m making it happen.'

Data-Driven Approach and the Struggle for Survival

Fuchs’s assistant, Mark Smith, was born in Newport and had been in charge of 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 numerous season peaks,' he says, highlighting ball progression and statistics about breaking defensive lines. Passing accuracy was recorded at 87%. {'Not satisfied with that … that needs to be in the 90-95% range,' he declares. {'My first game, it was very long-ball, fourth-tier football, but we want to be unique. I think a five-yard pass has a higher probability to arrive than just launching it all the time.'

The general 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 won a game 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 secured 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 create a stronghold.'

One of the Lads at Heart

By his own confession, Fuchs relishes a challenge. {'What’s so wrong with that?' He ended his playing career less than three years ago and, like Tuchel, likes being in the thick of things. {'I’m a member of the group. I’m still a player in here,' he says, tapping his chest. {'At training I’m always getting involved in the small-sided games – two nutmegs already, get in! I want us to regard each other as one team. Yes, you’re the ones on the field, but we’re one team, we’re striving towards this collectively.'