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'I estimate that the likelihood of us transforming our fortunes are lower than Leicester claiming the Premier League, so they are in our benefit, right?' The Austrian veteran is talking about his new life as manager of the League Two strugglers, and the monumental task of averting a drop into non-league football. Here lies a challenge at the complete other end of the scale, though that fairytale title win in 2016 furnished him a great deal more than a winner's medal. {'It contributed to shifting my mindset a little bit ... it proved that the impossible can be possible,' he remarks.

'How Did Fuchs End Up Here?'

The natural place to start is: how did Fuchs wind up here? 'That's the element of the story that isn't straightforward, wouldn't you say?' he comments, letting out a chuckle. It is the 39-year-old's introductory line and a clear sign of his playful character across a wide-ranging conversation. Our talk flows in various tangents, from playing for the current England boss and Brendan Rodgers to the urgent quest to find a barber in the area.

He opens some mail on his desk. Among it is a note from a Leicester supporter sending best wishes, accompanied by a couple of glossy photos from that season. {'Young Fuchs,' he says, with a smile. Another package brings a collection of old Panini stickers, one from an album celebrating Euro 2016, when he captained Austria. A note from the Newport Supporters’ Club has pride of place. 'Stuff like this makes me very happy,' he adds.

A Previous Visit and a Typographical Error

Prior to his move back from North Carolina to accept his first job in frontline management last month, Fuchs’s previous visit to Rodney Parade was in January 2019, when Leicester suffered a Newport cupset in the FA Cup third round. That day a former full-back competed with Fuchs. {'He had the match of his career,' Fuchs says. But when the teamsheets came out, an amusing error was discovered. {'You need to edit this,' Fuchs says with a smile. 'They misspelled my name – somehow a 'k' found its way in in place of the 'h'. It is amusing because Fuchs, in German, means fox, so it’s something nice.'

Insights from The Tinkerman, Rodgers and Tuchel

His move to join the Foxes in the summer of 2015 turned out to be a masterstroke. A couple of weeks later Leicester hired Claudio Ranieri and an iconic story unfolded. The Italian arrived at the club in the midst of a pre-season camp in Austria and his observational approach did the trick. {'When you see Claudio you imagine an older man, so experienced in the game, maybe a bit set in his ways, but he’s the complete opposite,' Fuchs states. {'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 observed you for a week and I’m not going to change anything.''

Fuchs cherishes insights gained from Rodgers and Tuchel, under whom he worked while on loan at Mainz. {'He always thought: ‘How can I get additional out of the players? How can I push them psychologically?’’ Fuchs says of Tuchel. {'That’s a significant part of our methodology as well. How can you make good decision-makers? Back then he was probably in a similar situation to where I am now … very focused, very eager to prove himself.'

Roots and a Resolute Mindset

Fuchs’s drive originates in 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 skilled 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 cannot do this, you can't do that.’ I’m going to show 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 doing it.'

Analytical 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 data from a recent 2-2 draw, displaying a slide he showed his players. {'The team hit many, many season highs,' he explains, emphasizing ball progression and statistics about getting behind defensive lines. Passing accuracy was shown as 87%. {'Not satisfied with that … that needs to be in the mid-90s,' he insists. {'My first game, it was very direct, fourth-tier football, but we want to be different. I think a five-yard pass has a higher chance to find its target than just going long all the time.'

The broader numbers paint bleak 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 won a game 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 earned a crucial point. {'We need to be a power at home,' Fuchs emphasizes. {'It’s just not satisfactory, not even having a win. We need to construct a impenetrable home.'

One of the Lads at Heart

By his own admission, Fuchs relishes a challenge. {'What’s so wrong with that?' He ended his playing career less than three years ago and, like Tuchel, enjoys being in the middle of the action. {'I’m a component of the group. I’m still a player in here,' he says, pointing to his chest. {'At training I’m always participating in the boxes – two pannas already, brilliant! I want us to regard each other as a unified group. Yes, you’re the ones on the field, but we’re all in this together, we’re tackling this together.'