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'The probability of a late surge is arguably more remote than that fabled 5,000-1 title, which strangely puts the odds in our favour.' The Austrian veteran is talking about his fresh chapter as manager of the Football League's bottom club, and the daunting task of preventing a drop into non-league football. Here lies a challenge at the polar opposite of the spectrum of success, though that unbelievable title win in 2016 furnished him far more than a winner's medal. {'It assisted in altering my mindset a little bit ... it proved that the unthinkable can be possible,' he remarks.

'How Did Fuchs Find Himself Here?'

The logical place to start is: what brought Fuchs wind up here? 'That's the aspect of the story that defies logic, wouldn't you say?' he states, letting out a laugh. It is the 39-year-old's opening gambit and a clear sign of his playful character across a wide-ranging conversation. The discussion flows in multiple pathways, from being managed by the current England boss and the former Leicester manager to the pressing need to find a barber in the area.

He looks at some mail on his desk. Among it is a note from a Leicester supporter wishing him well, accompanied by a couple of professional photographs from that campaign. {'Young Fuchs,' he muses, smiling. Another envelope brings a collection of old Panini stickers, one from an album marking Euro 2016, when he skippered Austria. A card from the Newport Supporters’ Club has pride of place. Things like this makes me very pleased,' he concludes.

A Past Trip and a Typographical Error

Until his move back from North Carolina to take on his first job in senior management last month, Fuchs’s last trip to Rodney Parade was in January 2019, when Leicester suffered a Newport shock defeat in the FA Cup third round. During that match David Pipe duelled against Fuchs. {'He had the game of his career,' Fuchs recalls. But when the teamsheets dropped, an curious error was discovered. {'You need to redact this,' Fuchs remarks. 'They misspelled my name – somehow a 'k' crept in in place of the 'h'. It is amusing because Fuchs, in German, means fox, so it’s something nice.'

Experiences from Ranieri, Rodgers and Tuchel

His choice to join the Foxes in the summer of 2015 turned out to be inspired. A couple of weeks later Leicester hired Claudio Ranieri and the rest is history. The Italian came to the club in the midst of a pre-season camp in Austria and his light-touch approach produced miracles. {'When you observe Claudio you imagine an elder gentleman, so long in the business, maybe a bit traditional, but he’s so not,' Fuchs states. {'He just said he was going to observe 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 change anything.''

Fuchs cherishes 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 push them mentally?’’ 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 motivated, very anxious to prove himself.'

Background and a Stubborn Character

Fuchs’s determination comes from 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: ‘Watch me, I’m going to show you.’ I’ve been told too many times: ‘You can't do this, you can not 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 very headstrong. If I see potential, I’m going for it.'

Data-Driven Approach and the Battle for Survival

Fuchs’s assistant, Mark Smith, was born in Newport and had been in charge of Fuchs’s Fox Soccer Academy. Fuchs boots up his laptop to show analytics from a recent 2-2 draw, displaying a slide he used with his players. {'The team hit several season peaks,' he says, emphasizing ball progression and statistics about breaking defensive lines. Passing accuracy was logged at 87%. {'Not satisfied with that … that needs to be in the mid-90s,' he declares. {'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 chance to arrive than just launching it all the time.'

The general 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 force at home,' Fuchs says. {'It’s just not good enough, not even having a win. We need to create a stronghold.'

Still a Player at Heart

By his own confession, Fuchs enjoys a challenge. {'What’s so bad with that?' He retired less than three years ago and, like Tuchel, enjoys being in the middle of the action. {'I’m a part of the group. I’m still a player inside,' he remarks, indicating his chest. {'At training I’m always getting involved in the boxes – two pannas already, brilliant! I want us to see each other as a single unit. Yes, you’re the ones on the field, but we’re all in this together, we’re striving towards this as one.'