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'I estimate that the chances of us turning the season around are lower than Leicester claiming the Premier League, so they are in our favour, right?' The Austrian veteran is reflecting on his fresh chapter as manager of the Football League's bottom club, and the daunting task of preventing a fall into non-league football. This represents a challenge at the complete other end of the scale, though that unbelievable title win in 2016 furnished him a great deal more than a winner's medal. {'It assisted in altering my outlook a little bit ... it showed that the impossible can be attainable,' he states.

'How Did Fuchs Wind Up Here?'

The obvious place to start is: what brought Fuchs wind up here? 'I guess that's the part that's unpredictable, right?' he says, erupting in a laugh. It is the 39-year-old's initial statement and a clear indication of his charismatic character across a fascinating conversation. Our talk flows in various tangents, from being managed by Thomas Tuchel and the former Leicester manager 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 professional photographs from that campaign. {'Young Fuchs,' he muses, with a smile. 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 has pride of place. 'Stuff like this really makes me very pleased,' he states.

A Prior Encounter and a Funny Mistake

Until coming back from North Carolina to assume his first job in frontline management last month, Fuchs’s previous visit 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 a former full-back duelled against Fuchs. {'He had the performance of his life,' Fuchs admits. But when the official sheets dropped, an amusing error came to light. {'You need to edit this,' Fuchs jokes. 'They misspelled 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.'

Lessons from Ranieri, Rodgers and Tuchel

His decision to join the Foxes in the summer of 2015 was a masterstroke. A couple of weeks later Leicester hired Claudio Ranieri and an iconic story unfolded. The Italian came to the club in the middle of a pre-season camp in Austria and his observational approach worked wonders. {'When you see Claudio you imagine an seasoned professional, so experienced in the game, maybe a bit old school, but he’s so not,' Fuchs says. {'He just said he was going to observe 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 watched you for a week and I’m not going to modify anything.''

Fuchs cherishes experiences 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 philosophy as well. How can you make good thinkers on the pitch? Back then he was probably in a analogous place to where I am now … very motivated, very anxious to prove himself.'

Background and a Determined Character

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 good enough,' he discloses. {'There are people who let that overcome 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 cannot do that.’ I’m going to show that I can and give absolutely everything. The other thing about my make-up is: I’m quite stubborn. If I see promise, I’m making it happen.'

Analytical Approach and the Battle 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 data from a recent 2-2 draw, displaying a slide he presented to his players. {'The team hit many, many season bests,' he points out, noting 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, League Two football, but we want to be different. I think a five-yard pass has a higher probability to find its target than just launching it all the time.'

The general numbers paint sobering reading. Newport have won three of 19 league matches and are without a victory 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 injury-time equaliser with 10 men secured a precious 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 create a impenetrable home.'

In the Thick of It at Heart

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