{Christian Fuchs: 'I'm Very Stubborn. If I See Promise, I'm Doing It'|Ex-Leicester Star Christian Fuchs Opens Up on League Two Mission

'I estimate that the likelihood of us turning the season around are less than Leicester claiming the Premier League, so they are in our favor, right?' The Austrian veteran is discussing his new life as manager of Newport County, and the daunting task of preventing a descent into non-league football. Here lies a challenge at the complete other end of the spectrum of success, though that unbelievable title win in 2016 furnished him much more than a winner's medal. {'It contributed to shifting my perspective a little bit ... it showed that the unattainable can be achievable,' he remarks.

The Surprising Path to Rodney Parade

The obvious place to start is: what brought Fuchs end up here? 'I imagine that's the part that's unpredictable, right?' he comments, erupting in a chuckle. This remark acts as the 39-year-old's initial statement and a clear demonstration of his engaging character across a wide-ranging conversation. The discussion runs in various tangents, from working under the current England boss and Brendan Rodgers to the pressing need to find a barber in the area.

He opens some correspondence on his desk. There is a note from a Leicester supporter offering encouragement, along with a couple of professional photographs from that campaign. {'Young Fuchs,' he remarks, grinning. Another envelope brings a hoard of old stickers, one from an album commemorating Euro 2016, when he captained Austria. A card from the Newport Supporters’ Club has pride of place. 'Stuff like this makes me very content,' he adds.

A Past Trip and a Misspelt Name

Prior to coming back from North Carolina to accept his first job in senior management last month, Fuchs’s previous visit to Rodney Parade was in January 2019, when Leicester suffered a Newport shock defeat in the FA Cup third round. On that occasion the Newport kit man duelled against Fuchs. {'He had the match of his life,' Fuchs recalls. But when the teamsheets came out, an interesting error was discovered. {'You need to censor this,' Fuchs jokes. 'They got wrong my name – somehow a 'k' crept in in place of the 'h'. It is hilarious because Fuchs, in German, means fox, so it’s something pleasant.'

Lessons from Ranieri, Rodgers and Tuchel

His decision to join the Foxes in the summer of 2015 was inspired. A couple of weeks later Leicester appointed Claudio Ranieri and the rest is history. The Italian joined the club in the middle of a pre-season camp in Austria and his observational approach did the trick. {'When you look at Claudio you picture an elder gentleman, so a veteran of the sport, maybe a bit traditional, but he’s the complete opposite,' Fuchs states. {'He just said he was going to observe training in Austria for the first week. He didn’t get involved 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 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 extra out of the players? How can I test them psychologically?’’ Fuchs says of Tuchel. {'That’s a major part of our methodology 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 motivated, very keen to prove himself.'

Origins and a Stubborn Nature

Fuchs’s motivation comes from his early years in Neunkirchen. {'There are comparisons 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: ‘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 put in the hard yards. The other thing about my character is: I’m pretty headstrong. If I see possibility, 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 boots up his laptop to show analytics from a recent 2-2 draw, presenting a slide he showed his players. {'The team hit many, many season peaks,' he points out, emphasizing ball progression and statistics about getting behind defensive lines. Passing accuracy was shown as 87%. {'Not pleased with that … that needs to be in the mid-90s,' he insists. {'My first game, it was very direct, fourth-tier football, but we want to be unique. I think a five-yard pass has a higher percentage to find its target than just hoofing 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 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 secured a crucial point. {'We need to be a force at home,' Fuchs emphasizes. {'It’s just not good enough, not even having a win. We need to create a stronghold.'

One of the Lads at Heart

By his own confession, Fuchs relishes a challenge. {'What’s so wrong with that?' He hung up his boots less than three years ago and, like Tuchel, enjoys being in the thick of things. {'I’m a member of the group. I’m still a player in here,' he says, indicating his chest. {'At training I’m always participating in the boxes – two nutmegs already, brilliant! I want us to view 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.'