{Christian Fuchs: 'I'm Pretty Stubborn. If I See Promise, I'm Making It Happen'|Former Foxes Defender Christian Fuchs Opens Up on Newport County Challenge

'I reckon that the odds of us reviving our campaign are slimmer than Leicester winning the Premier League, so they are in our benefit, right?' Christian Fuchs is discussing his fresh chapter as manager of Newport County, and the monumental task of averting 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 gave him far more than a champion's gong. {'It contributed to shifting my mindset a little bit ... it demonstrated that the impossible can be achievable,' he notes.

The Unlikely Path to Rodney Parade

The obvious place to start is: what brought Fuchs find himself here? 'I imagine that's the part that's not logical, right?' he comments, letting out a laugh. It is the 39-year-old's initial statement and a clear demonstration of his charismatic character across a colourful conversation. The discussion travels in different directions, from playing for the current England boss and Brendan Rodgers to the urgent quest to find a local barber.

He looks at some post on his desk. Among it is a message from a Leicester supporter wishing him well, accompanied by a couple of shiny pictures from that campaign. {'Young Fuchs,' he says, grinning. Another envelope brings a hoard of old stickers, one from an album commemorating Euro 2016, when he led Austria. A note from the Newport Supporters’ Club has pride of place. 'Stuff like this makes me very happy,' he states.

A Past Trip and a Typographical Error

Until returning from North Carolina to take on his first job in first-team coaching last month, Fuchs’s last trip to Rodney Parade was in January 2019, when Leicester endured a Newport giantkilling in the FA Cup third round. That day the Newport kit man faced off against Fuchs. {'He had the match of his life,' Fuchs recalls. But when the lineup cards were released, an interesting error came to light. {'You need to censor this,' Fuchs says with a smile. 'They misspelt my name – somehow a 'k' found its way in in place of the 'h'. It is amusing because Fuchs, in German, means fox, so it’s something nice.'

Insights from The Tinkerman, Rodgers and Tuchel

His decision to join the Foxes in the summer of 2015 turned out to be inspired. A couple of weeks later Leicester brought in Claudio Ranieri and an iconic story unfolded. The Italian arrived at the club in the midst of a pre-season camp in Austria and his hands-off 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 anything but,' Fuchs says. {'He just said he was going to observe training in Austria for the first week. He remained on the sidelines at all. After that week we had a meeting and he said: 'I’ve watched you for a week and I’m not going to change anything.''

Fuchs holds dear lessons learned from Rodgers and Tuchel, under whom he worked while on loan at Mainz. {'He always considered: ‘How can I get additional out of the players? How can I test them mentally?’’ Fuchs says of Tuchel. {'That’s a big part of our approach 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 driven, very keen to prove himself.'

Origins and a Resolute Character

Fuchs’s motivation stems from 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 shares. {'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 can not do this, you cannot do that.’ I’m going to demonstrate that I can and put in the hard yards. The other thing about my personality is: I’m very headstrong. If I see promise, I’m going for it.'

Data-Driven Approach and the Struggle for Survival

Fuchs’s assistant, Mark Smith, was born in Newport and formerly ran Fuchs’s Fox Soccer Academy. Fuchs fires up his laptop to show analytics from a recent 2-2 draw, sharing a slide he presented to his players. {'The team hit many, many season peaks,' he says, noting ball progression and statistics about penetrating defensive lines. Passing accuracy was shown as 87%. {'Not pleased with that … that needs to be in the mid-90s,' he states. {'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 be successful than just hoofing it all the time.'

The general numbers paint bleak reading. Newport have managed 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 93rd-minute equaliser with 10 men garnered a precious point. {'We need to be a force at home,' Fuchs stresses. {'It’s just not satisfactory, not even having a win. We need to create a fortress.'

One of the Lads at Heart

By his own admission, Fuchs enjoys a challenge. {'What’s so negative 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 at heart,' he says, tapping his chest. {'At training I’m always participating in the small-sided games – two nutmegs already, get in! I want us to regard each other as a single unit. Yes, you’re the ones on the field, but we’re one team, we’re tackling this as one.'