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'The prospect of a seasonal revival is arguably more remote than that historic 5,000-1 title, which somehow puts the odds in our favor.' The Austrian veteran is talking about his recent venture as head coach of the Football League's bottom club, and the immense task of staving off a descent into non-league football. It is a challenge at the complete other end of the scale, though that fairytale title win in 2016 provided him with much more than a winner's medal. {'It helped change my outlook a little bit ... it demonstrated that the unthinkable can be achievable,' he states.

'How Did Fuchs Wind Up Here?'

The natural place to start is: what brought Fuchs wind up here? 'I suppose that's the part that's not logical, right?' he says, breaking into a chuckle. This serves as the 39-year-old's initial statement and a clear indication of his playful character across a fascinating conversation. The discussion flows in various tangents, from working under Thomas Tuchel and Brendan Rodgers to the pressing need to find a local barber.

He opens some post on his desk. Among it is a note from a Leicester supporter sending best wishes, accompanied by a couple of professional photographs from that campaign. {'Young Fuchs,' he muses, with a smile. Another delivery brings a collection of old Panini stickers, one from an album celebrating Euro 2016, when he captained Austria. A card from the Newport Supporters’ Club has pride of place. Things like this genuinely makes me very content,' he concludes.

A Prior Encounter and a Misspelt Name

Prior to coming back from North Carolina to accept his first job in first-team coaching last month, Fuchs’s previous visit to Rodney Parade was in January 2019, when Leicester suffered a Newport cupset in the FA Cup third round. That day David Pipe faced off against Fuchs. {'He had the match of his career,' Fuchs says. But when the teamsheets dropped, an curious error came to light. {'You need to censor this,' Fuchs says with a smile. 'They misspelled my name – somehow a 'k' found its way in in place of the 'h'. It is funny because Fuchs, in German, means fox, so it’s something pleasant.'

Experiences from The Tinkerman, Rodgers and Tuchel

His move to join the Foxes in the summer of 2015 was a masterstroke. A couple of weeks later Leicester brought in Claudio Ranieri and what followed is legendary. The Italian came to the club in the middle of a pre-season camp in Austria and his light-touch approach did the trick. {'When you see Claudio you picture an older man, so long in the business, maybe a bit traditional, but he’s so not,' Fuchs states. {'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 change anything.''

Fuchs cherishes lessons learned 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 challenge them mentally?’’ Fuchs says of Tuchel. {'That’s a significant part of our philosophy as well. How can you make good thinkers on the pitch? Back then he was probably in a analogous place to where I am now … very motivated, very keen to prove himself.'

Roots and a Resolute Nature

Fuchs’s drive originates in 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 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 can't do that.’ I’m going to demonstrate that I can and work my socks off. The other thing about my personality is: I’m quite determined. If I see possibility, I’m going for it.'

Data-Driven 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 fires up his laptop to show data from a recent 2-2 draw, displaying a slide he showed his players. {'The team hit many, many season peaks,' he explains, noting ball progression and statistics about getting behind defensive lines. Passing accuracy was shown as 87%. {'Not happy with that … that needs to be in the mid-90s,' he declares. {'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 probability to arrive than just launching it all the time.'

The general numbers make grim 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 injury-time equaliser with 10 men secured a valuable point. {'We need to be a force at home,' Fuchs emphasizes. {'It’s just not satisfactory, not even having a win. We need to construct a stronghold.'

In the Thick of It at Heart

By his own acknowledgement, Fuchs likes a challenge. {'What’s so wrong with that?' He retired less than three years ago and, like Tuchel, loves being in the heart of the battle. {'I’m a member of the group. I’m still a player in here,' he says, tapping his chest. {'At training I’m always getting involved in the small-sided games – two pannas already, yes! I want us to regard each other as a single unit. Yes, you’re the ones on the field, but we’re a collective, we’re tackling this collectively.'