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'I estimate that the odds of us transforming our fortunes are less than Leicester claiming the Premier League, so they are in our favour, right?' The Austrian veteran is reflecting on his recent venture as manager of the Football League's bottom club, and the monumental task of staving off a drop into non-league football. Here lies a challenge at the complete other end of the scale, though that miraculous title win in 2016 gave him much more than a winner's medal. {'It contributed to shifting my perspective a little bit ... it showed that the unthinkable can be possible,' he remarks.

The Unlikely Path to Rodney Parade

The obvious place to start is: what was the journey that led Fuchs find himself here? 'I imagine that's the part that's not logical, right?' he states, breaking into a laugh. This serves as the 39-year-old's introductory line and a clear demonstration of his engaging character across a wide-ranging conversation. Discourse travels in various tangents, from playing for the current England boss and the former Leicester manager to the pressing need to find a nearby hairdresser.

He looks at some post on his desk. There is a note from a Leicester supporter offering encouragement, accompanied by a couple of glossy photos from that memorable year. {'Young Fuchs,' he muses, grinning. Another package brings a stash of old Panini stickers, one from an album marking Euro 2016, when he led Austria. A card from the Newport Supporters’ Club has pride of place. Things like this genuinely makes me very content,' he concludes.

A Previous Visit and a Misspelt Name

Until his move back from North Carolina to assume his first job in first-team coaching last month, Fuchs’s most recent encounter to Rodney Parade was in January 2019, when Leicester suffered a Newport giantkilling in the FA Cup third round. On that occasion David Pipe faced off against Fuchs. {'He had the performance of his life,' Fuchs says. But when the teamsheets were released, an amusing error emerged. {'You need to edit this,' Fuchs jokes. '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.'

Lessons from Claudio, Rodgers and Tuchel

His move to join the Foxes in the summer of 2015 proved inspired. A couple of weeks later Leicester hired Claudio Ranieri and an iconic story unfolded. The Italian arrived at the club in the heart of a pre-season camp in Austria and his observational approach worked wonders. {'When you observe Claudio you envision an seasoned professional, so long in the business, maybe a bit traditional, but he’s anything but,' Fuchs says. {'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 studied you for a week and I’m not going to modify anything.''

Fuchs values lessons learned from Rodgers and Tuchel, under whom he worked while on loan at Mainz. {'He always pondered: ‘How can I get additional out of the players? How can I challenge them psychologically?’’ Fuchs says of Tuchel. {'That’s a major part of our methodology as well. How can you make good players who choose wisely? Back then he was probably in a comparable position to where I am now … very focused, very keen to prove himself.'

Origins and a Determined Nature

Fuchs’s determination stems from his early years 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 shares. {'There are people who let that defeat 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 not do that.’ I’m going to demonstrate that I can and work my socks off. The other thing about my character is: I’m quite headstrong. 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 formerly ran Fuchs’s Fox Soccer Academy. Fuchs boots up his laptop to show statistics from a recent 2-2 draw, sharing a slide he used with his players. {'The team hit many, many season highs,' he says, highlighting ball progression and statistics about breaking defensive lines. Passing accuracy was recorded at 87%. {'Not pleased with that … that needs to be in the mid-90s,' he states. {'My first game, it was very physical, fourth-tier football, but we want to be different. I think a five-yard pass has a higher probability to find its target than just going long all the time.'

The overarching numbers present sobering reading. Newport have won 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 tasted victory 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 garnered a valuable point. {'We need to be a power at home,' Fuchs stresses. {'It’s just not satisfactory, not even having a win. We need to construct a stronghold.'

One of the Lads at Heart

By his own admission, Fuchs enjoys a challenge. {'What’s so bad with that?' He hung up his boots less than three years ago and, like Tuchel, loves being in the thick of things. {'I’m a member of the group. I’m still a player at heart,' he remarks, tapping 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 tackling this collectively.'