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'The probability of a dramatic turnaround is arguably a longer shot than that fabled 5,000-1 title, which logically puts the odds in our favour.' The Austrian veteran is discussing his new life as boss of the Football League's bottom club, and the monumental task of staving off a fall into non-league football. Here lies a challenge at the complete other end of the spectrum of success, though that fairytale title win in 2016 gave him far more than a winner's medal. {'It helped change my mindset a little bit ... it showed that the unattainable can be achievable,' he states.

'How Did Fuchs Find Himself Here?'

The natural place to start is: what brought Fuchs end up here? 'I suppose that's the part that's not logical, right?' he says, breaking into a laugh. This remark acts as the 39-year-old's opening gambit and a clear sign of his engaging character across a wide-ranging conversation. Our talk flows in different directions, from working under the current England boss and the former Leicester manager to the pressing need to find a barber in the area.

He looks at some correspondence on his desk. Included is a message from a Leicester supporter wishing him well, along with a couple of professional photographs from that memorable year. {'Young Fuchs,' he muses, with a smile. Another delivery brings a hoard of old collector's items, one from an album marking Euro 2016, when he led Austria. A note from the Newport Supporters’ Club has pride of place. Things like this genuinely makes me very content,' he concludes.

A Previous Visit and a Typographical Error

Prior to his move back from North Carolina to take on his first job in senior management last month, Fuchs’s most recent encounter to Rodney Parade was in January 2019, when Leicester were on the end of a Newport shock defeat in the FA Cup third round. During that match David Pipe faced off against Fuchs. {'He had the match of his career,' Fuchs admits. But when the lineup cards dropped, an amusing error emerged. {'You need to censor this,' Fuchs remarks. 'They got wrong 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 pleasant.'

Experiences from Claudio, 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 joined the club in the midst of a pre-season camp in Austria and his observational approach produced miracles. {'When you see Claudio you envision an older man, so a veteran of the sport, maybe a bit old school, but he’s the complete opposite,' Fuchs explains. {'He just said he was going to monitor 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 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 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 decision-makers? Back then he was probably in a analogous place to where I am now … very focused, very anxious to prove himself.'

Background and a Determined Nature

Fuchs’s drive stems from his childhood 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 skilled 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 can not do this, you cannot 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 very headstrong. If I see promise, 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, displaying a slide he showed his players. {'The team hit numerous season bests,' he says, highlighting ball progression and statistics about getting behind 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 long-ball, lower-league football, but we want to be unique. I think a five-yard pass has a higher chance 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 tasted victory 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 garnered a precious 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 fortress.'

Still a Player at Heart

By his own confession, Fuchs enjoys a challenge. {'What’s so negative with that?' He hung up his boots less than three years ago and, like Tuchel, likes being in the middle of the action. {'I’m a component of the group. I’m still a player inside,' he states, indicating his chest. {'At training I’m always joining in in the drills – two megs already, yes! I want us to regard 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 together.'