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'I estimate that the likelihood of us turning the season around are slimmer than Leicester winning the Premier League, so they are in our favor, right?' The Austrian veteran is talking about his fresh chapter as boss of Newport County, and the immense task of staving off a fall into non-league football. It is a challenge at the complete other end of the scale, though that fairytale title win in 2016 furnished him far more than a winner's medal. {'It contributed to shifting my perspective a little bit ... it showed that the impossible can be possible,' he states.

'How Did Fuchs Find Himself Here?'

The logical place to start is: what was the journey that led Fuchs wind up here? 'That's the aspect of the story that defies logic, wouldn't you say?' he comments, letting out laughter. This serves as the 39-year-old's initial statement and a clear demonstration of his playful character across a fascinating conversation. Discourse runs in various tangents, from working under the current England boss and the former Leicester manager to the pressing need to find a local barber.

He sorts through some post on his desk. There is a note from a Leicester supporter offering encouragement, accompanied by a couple of professional photographs from that campaign. {'Young Fuchs,' he muses, grinning. Another delivery brings a hoard of old stickers, one from an album commemorating Euro 2016, when he skippered Austria. A greeting from the Newport Supporters’ Club is displayed prominently. Items like this really makes me very content,' he concludes.

A Prior Encounter and a Typographical Error

Until returning from North Carolina to accept 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 giantkilling in the FA Cup third round. On that occasion the Newport kit man competed with Fuchs. {'He had the match of his career,' Fuchs admits. But when the official sheets were released, an interesting error was discovered. {'You need to redact this,' Fuchs says with a smile. 'They misspelt my name – somehow a 'k' smuggled itself in in place of the 'h'. It is hilarious because Fuchs, in German, means fox, so it’s something fitting.'

Lessons from Claudio, Rodgers and Tuchel

His choice to join the Foxes in the summer of 2015 turned out to be a masterstroke. A couple of weeks later Leicester appointed Claudio Ranieri and an iconic story unfolded. The Italian joined the club in the heart of a pre-season camp in Austria and his observational approach worked wonders. {'When you see Claudio you picture an seasoned professional, so long in the business, maybe a bit traditional, but he’s so not,' Fuchs explains. {'He just said he was going to watch 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 alter 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 challenge them psychologically?’’ Fuchs says of Tuchel. {'That’s a big part of our approach 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 focused, very anxious to prove himself.'

Origins and a Determined Nature

Fuchs’s motivation comes from his early years 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: ‘Forget 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 work my socks off. The other thing about my make-up is: I’m quite headstrong. If I see promise, I’m going for 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 boots up his laptop to show data from a recent 2-2 draw, presenting a slide he presented to his players. {'The team hit many, many season peaks,' he explains, emphasizing ball progression and statistics about penetrating defensive lines. Passing accuracy was recorded at 87%. {'Not pleased with that … that needs to be in the 90-95% range,' he states. {'My first game, it was very physical, League Two football, but we want to be distinct. I think a five-yard pass has a higher chance to find its target than just going long all the time.'

The general numbers paint grim reading. Newport have won 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 tasted victory at home for 273 days and have kept just two clean sheets in 26 matches this season. But a recent last-gasp equaliser with 10 men garnered a valuable point. {'We need to be a force at home,' Fuchs says. {'It’s just not good enough, not even having a win. We need to build a impenetrable home.'

One of the Lads at Heart

By his own acknowledgement, Fuchs enjoys a challenge. {'What’s so negative 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 member of the group. I’m still a player in here,' he says, pointing to his chest. {'At training I’m always getting involved in the boxes – two megs already, get in! I want us to regard each other as a single unit. Yes, you’re the ones on the field, but we’re all in this together, we’re working on this as one.'