{Christian Fuchs: 'I'm Pretty Stubborn. Whenever I Notice Promise, I'm Making It Happen'|Ex-Leicester Star Christian Fuchs Opens Up on Newport County Task

'I reckon that the chances of us turning the season around are less than Leicester winning the Premier League, so they are in our favor, right?' The Austrian veteran is talking about his new life as manager of the League Two strugglers, and the immense task of preventing a fall into non-league football. Here lies a challenge at the polar opposite of the spectrum, though that unbelievable title win in 2016 furnished him much more than a Premier League trophy. {'It helped change my mindset a little bit ... it demonstrated that the unthinkable can be possible,' he remarks.

The Surprising Path to Rodney Parade

The obvious place to start is: how did Fuchs end up here? 'That's the aspect of the story that defies logic, wouldn't you say?' he comments, erupting in laughter. It is the 39-year-old's introductory line and a clear sign of his playful character across a fascinating conversation. The discussion flows in different directions, from being managed by Thomas Tuchel and Brendan Rodgers to the immediate requirement to find a barber in the area.

He opens some mail on his desk. Included is a message from a Leicester supporter sending best wishes, accompanied by a couple of professional photographs from that season. {'Young Fuchs,' he remarks, with a smile. Another envelope brings a stash of old stickers, one from an album commemorating Euro 2016, when he led Austria. A note from the Newport Supporters’ Club is displayed prominently. Items like this makes me very content,' he states.

A Past Trip and a Typographical Error

Until returning from North Carolina to accept his first job in senior management last month, Fuchs’s most recent encounter to Rodney Parade was in January 2019, when Leicester suffered a Newport giantkilling in the FA Cup third round. On that occasion a former full-back duelled against Fuchs. {'He had the match of his career,' Fuchs recalls. But when the official sheets came out, an interesting error emerged. {'You need to redact this,' Fuchs remarks. 'They got wrong my name – somehow a 'k' found its way in in place of the 'h'. It is hilarious because Fuchs, in German, means fox, so it’s something fitting.'

Lessons from Claudio, Rodgers and Tuchel

His choice to join the Foxes in the summer of 2015 proved inspired. A couple of weeks later Leicester appointed Claudio Ranieri and an iconic story unfolded. The Italian came to the club in the midst of a pre-season camp in Austria and his light-touch approach produced miracles. {'When you see Claudio you imagine an seasoned professional, so a veteran of the sport, maybe a bit old school, but he’s anything but,' Fuchs explains. {'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 observed you for a week and I’m not going to alter anything.''

Fuchs holds dear 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 significant 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 motivated, very keen to prove himself.'

Background and a Stubborn Mindset

Fuchs’s drive comes from his early years 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 good enough,' he discloses. {'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 show that I can and put in the hard yards. The other thing about my make-up is: I’m pretty headstrong. If I see potential, I’m doing it.'

Analytical Approach and the Struggle for Survival

Fuchs’s assistant, Mark Smith, was born in Newport and had been in charge of Fuchs’s Fox Soccer Academy. Fuchs opens his laptop to show analytics from a recent 2-2 draw, displaying a slide he showed his players. {'The team hit numerous season peaks,' he explains, emphasizing 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 physical, League Two football, but we want to be distinct. I think a five-yard pass has a higher probability to be successful than just launching it all the time.'

The general numbers make bleak reading. Newport have won three of 19 league matches and are yet to win 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 dominant side at home,' Fuchs stresses. {'It’s just not good enough, not even having a win. We need to build a fortress.'

Still a Player at Heart

By his own admission, Fuchs likes a challenge. {'What’s so negative 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 component of the group. I’m still a player at heart,' he remarks, pointing to his chest. {'At training I’m always participating in the boxes – two pannas 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 striving towards this together.'