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'The probability of a late surge is arguably less likely than that fabled 5,000-1 title, which somehow puts the odds in our favour.' Christian Fuchs is talking about his fresh chapter as manager of the Football League's bottom club, and the immense task of staving off a drop into non-league football. It is a challenge at the polar opposite of the scale, though that fairytale title win in 2016 gave him far more than a champion's gong. {'It assisted in altering my mindset a little bit ... it demonstrated that the unattainable can be achievable,' he states.

The Surprising Path to Rodney Parade

The natural place to start is: how did Fuchs wind up here? 'I suppose that's the part that's unpredictable, right?' he says, breaking into laughter. It is the 39-year-old's opening gambit and a clear indication of his playful character across a wide-ranging conversation. Discourse travels in various tangents, from playing for Thomas Tuchel and Brendan Rodgers to the urgent quest to find a local barber.

He looks at some correspondence on his desk. Among it is a letter from a Leicester supporter sending best wishes, accompanied by a couple of glossy photos from that campaign. {'Young Fuchs,' he remarks, grinning. Another package brings a collection of old stickers, one from an album marking Euro 2016, when he led Austria. A greeting from the Newport Supporters’ Club has pride of place. Things like this genuinely makes me very happy,' he concludes.

A Previous Visit and a Funny Mistake

Prior to returning from North Carolina to take on 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 shock defeat in the FA Cup third round. On that occasion David Pipe faced off against Fuchs. {'He had the performance of his career,' Fuchs admits. But when the lineup cards were released, an interesting error was discovered. {'You need to censor 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 fitting.'

Experiences from The Tinkerman, Rodgers and Tuchel

His move to join the Foxes in the summer of 2015 turned out to be brilliant. A couple of weeks later Leicester hired Claudio Ranieri and the rest is history. The Italian came to the club in the heart of a pre-season camp in Austria and his observational approach did the trick. {'When you observe Claudio you envision an older man, so a veteran of the sport, maybe a bit old school, but he’s so not,' Fuchs says. {'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 studied you for a week and I’m not going to alter anything.''

Fuchs cherishes lessons learned from Rodgers and Tuchel, under whom he worked while on loan at Mainz. {'He always thought: ‘How can I get more out of the players? How can I challenge them psychologically?’’ Fuchs says of Tuchel. {'That’s a major part of our philosophy as well. How can you make good thinkers on the pitch? Back then he was probably in a comparable position to where I am now … very driven, very eager to prove himself.'

Background and a Determined Mindset

Fuchs’s determination originates in his upbringing 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 reveals. {'There are people who let that overcome them or there are people who say: ‘Forget you, I’m going to show you.’ I’ve been told too many times: ‘You can't do this, you can't do that.’ I’m going to prove that I can and put in the hard yards. The other thing about my character is: I’m quite determined. If I see potential, I’m making it happen.'

Analytical Approach and the Struggle for Survival

Fuchs’s assistant, Mark Smith, was born in Newport and previously led Fuchs’s Fox Soccer Academy. Fuchs fires up his laptop to show statistics from a recent 2-2 draw, sharing a slide he showed his players. {'The team hit several season bests,' he explains, highlighting ball progression and statistics about penetrating defensive lines. Passing accuracy was shown as 87%. {'Not satisfied with that … that needs to be in the 90-95% range,' he insists. {'My first game, it was very physical, fourth-tier football, but we want to be distinct. I think a five-yard pass has a higher percentage to be successful than just launching it all the time.'

The broader numbers paint sobering reading. Newport have secured 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 garnered a crucial point. {'We need to be a power at home,' Fuchs stresses. {'It’s just not good enough, not even having a win. We need to build a impenetrable home.'

Still a Player at Heart

By his own acknowledgement, Fuchs likes a challenge. {'What’s so negative with that?' He hung up his boots less than three years ago and, like Tuchel, loves being in the heart of the battle. {'I’m a component of the group. I’m still a player at heart,' he says, pointing to his chest. {'At training I’m always joining in in the boxes – two pannas already, brilliant! I want us to view each other as a single unit. Yes, you’re the ones on the field, but we’re all in this together, we’re tackling this collectively.'