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'I reckon that the odds of us reviving our campaign are slimmer than Leicester winning the Premier League, so they are in our favour, right?' The Austrian veteran is talking about his recent venture as head coach of Newport County, and the daunting task of preventing a descent into non-league football. This represents a challenge at the complete other end of the spectrum, though that fairytale title win in 2016 provided him with far more than a winner's medal. {'It helped change my perspective a little bit ... it proved that the unattainable can be possible,' he notes.

'How Did Fuchs Find Himself Here?'

The logical place to start is: how did Fuchs end up here? 'I imagine that's the part that's illogical, right?' he comments, breaking into a chuckle. It is the 39-year-old's initial statement and a clear demonstration of his playful character across a wide-ranging conversation. The discussion travels in different directions, from being managed by Thomas Tuchel and the former Leicester manager to the pressing need to find a barber in the area.

He sorts through some correspondence on his desk. There is a message from a Leicester supporter sending best wishes, accompanied by a couple of shiny pictures from that season. {'Young Fuchs,' he muses, grinning. Another envelope brings a hoard of old 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 really makes me very pleased,' he adds.

A Prior Encounter and a Funny Mistake

Until coming back from North Carolina to accept his first job in frontline management last month, Fuchs’s most recent encounter to Rodney Parade was in January 2019, when Leicester suffered a Newport cupset in the FA Cup third round. That day the Newport kit man faced off against Fuchs. {'He had the game of his life,' Fuchs recalls. But when the teamsheets dropped, an curious error emerged. {'You need to censor this,' Fuchs jokes. 'They got wrong my name – somehow a 'k' smuggled itself in in place of the 'h'. It is funny because Fuchs, in German, means fox, so it’s something pleasant.'

Lessons from Claudio, 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 what followed is legendary. The Italian joined the club in the middle of a pre-season camp in Austria and his observational approach produced miracles. {'When you observe Claudio you imagine an elder gentleman, so long in the business, maybe a bit old school, but he’s so not,' Fuchs explains. {'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 alter anything.''

Fuchs holds dear experiences from Rodgers and Tuchel, under whom he worked while on loan at Mainz. {'He always pondered: ‘How can I get extra 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 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 Stubborn Character

Fuchs’s drive originates in 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 skilled enough,' he reveals. {'There are people who let that defeat 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 demonstrate that I can and work my socks off. The other thing about my personality is: I’m very headstrong. If I see promise, I’m going for it.'

Analytical Approach and the Fight for Survival

Fuchs’s assistant, Mark Smith, was born in Newport and had been in charge of Fuchs’s Fox Soccer Academy. Fuchs opens 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 highs,' he explains, emphasizing ball progression and statistics about penetrating defensive lines. Passing accuracy was shown as 87%. {'Not satisfied with that … that needs to be in the mid-90s,' he states. {'My first game, it was very physical, lower-league football, but we want to be unique. I think a five-yard pass has a higher probability to arrive than just launching it all the time.'

The broader numbers present sobering reading. Newport have managed 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 93rd-minute equaliser with 10 men earned a valuable point. {'We need to be a dominant side at home,' Fuchs says. {'It’s just not acceptable, not even having a win. We need to create a stronghold.'

Still a Player at Heart

By his own acknowledgement, Fuchs relishes 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 component of the group. I’m still a player inside,' he states, indicating his chest. {'At training I’m always participating 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 one team, we’re striving towards this as one.'