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'I reckon that the likelihood of us reviving our campaign are less than Leicester winning the Premier League, so they are in our benefit, right?' The Austrian veteran is talking about his new life as boss of Newport County, and the daunting task of staving off 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 gave him much more than a Premier League trophy. {'It helped change my perspective a little bit ... it proved that the impossible can be attainable,' he remarks.

'How Did Fuchs Find Himself Here?'

The obvious place to start is: what brought Fuchs find himself here? 'I imagine that's the part that's unpredictable, right?' he says, breaking into a chuckle. This remark acts as the 39-year-old's opening gambit and a clear sign of his charismatic character across a colourful conversation. The discussion travels in multiple pathways, from playing for the current England boss and the former Leicester manager to the urgent quest to find a barber in the area.

He looks at some mail on his desk. Included is a note from a Leicester supporter sending best wishes, along with a couple of shiny pictures from that campaign. {'Young Fuchs,' he muses, grinning. Another envelope brings a hoard of old Panini stickers, one from an album marking Euro 2016, when he skippered Austria. A card from the Newport Supporters’ Club is displayed prominently. Things like this genuinely makes me very pleased,' he states.

A Prior Encounter and a Typographical Error

Until coming back from North Carolina to take on his first job in first-team coaching last month, Fuchs’s most recent encounter to Rodney Parade was in January 2019, when Leicester were on the end of a Newport shock defeat in the FA Cup third round. During that match David Pipe faced off against Fuchs. {'He had the match of his career,' Fuchs recalls. But when the lineup cards dropped, an curious error emerged. {'You need to redact 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 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 brought in Claudio Ranieri and the rest is history. The Italian came to the club in the midst of a pre-season camp in Austria and his observational approach worked wonders. {'When you look at Claudio you envision an elder gentleman, so long in the business, maybe a bit traditional, but he’s anything but,' Fuchs states. {'He just said he was going to watch training in Austria for the first week. He remained on the sidelines at all. After that week we had a meeting and he said: 'I’ve observed you for a week and I’m not going to change anything.''

Fuchs cherishes lessons learned 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 challenge them psychologically?’’ 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 motivated, very eager to prove himself.'

Background and a Determined Nature

Fuchs’s motivation stems 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 capable enough,' he reveals. {'There are people who let that get the better of them or there are people who say: ‘Forget you, I’m going to show you.’ I’ve been told too many times: ‘You cannot do this, you can not do that.’ I’m going to show that I can and work my socks off. The other thing about my personality is: I’m very determined. If I see possibility, 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 fires up his laptop to show statistics 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 breaking defensive lines. Passing accuracy was logged at 87%. {'Not satisfied with that … that needs to be in the 90-95% range,' he declares. {'My first game, it was very physical, lower-league football, but we want to be different. I think a five-yard pass has a higher percentage to arrive than just hoofing it all the time.'

The broader numbers make sobering 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 93rd-minute equaliser with 10 men earned a precious point. {'We need to be a dominant side at home,' Fuchs stresses. {'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 acknowledgement, Fuchs relishes a challenge. {'What’s so wrong with that?' He retired less than three years ago and, like Tuchel, loves being in the thick of things. {'I’m a component of the group. I’m still a player inside,' he remarks, indicating his chest. {'At training I’m always joining in in the drills – two pannas already, yes! I want us to view each other as a unified group. Yes, you’re the ones on the field, but we’re a collective, we’re striving towards this collectively.'