{Christian Fuchs: 'I'm Quite Determined. When I Spot Promise, I'm Going for It'|Ex-Leicester Star Christian Fuchs Opens Up on Newport County Mission

'I would say that the chances of us transforming our fortunes are less than Leicester lifting the Premier League, so they are in our favour, right?' Christian Fuchs is discussing his recent venture as head coach of the Football League's bottom club, and the immense task of staving off a fall into non-league football. Here lies a challenge at the polar opposite of the spectrum of success, though that miraculous title win in 2016 provided him with far more than a champion's gong. {'It helped change my outlook a little bit ... it proved that the impossible can be attainable,' he remarks.

The Surprising Path to Rodney Parade

The obvious place to start is: what was the journey that led Fuchs end up here? 'I guess that's the part that's not logical, right?' he says, breaking into laughter. This remark acts as the 39-year-old's opening gambit and a clear demonstration of his engaging character across a wide-ranging conversation. Our talk travels in different directions, from being managed by the current England boss and Brendan Rodgers to the pressing need to find a barber in the area.

He sorts through some correspondence on his desk. There is a letter from a Leicester supporter sending best wishes, paired with a couple of glossy photos from that campaign. {'Young Fuchs,' he muses, grinning. Another package brings a hoard of old collector's items, one from an album celebrating Euro 2016, when he skippered Austria. A greeting from the Newport Supporters’ Club is displayed prominently. Things like this makes me very pleased,' he concludes.

A Prior Encounter and a Typographical Error

Prior to coming back from North Carolina to accept his first job in senior management last month, Fuchs’s last trip to Rodney Parade was in January 2019, when Leicester suffered a Newport cupset in the FA Cup third round. On that occasion a former full-back competed with Fuchs. {'He had the performance of his life,' Fuchs says. But when the lineup cards were released, an amusing error was discovered. {'You need to censor this,' Fuchs jokes. 'They misspelled my name – somehow a 'k' crept in in place of the 'h'. It is funny because Fuchs, in German, means fox, so it’s something pleasant.'

Lessons from The Tinkerman, Rodgers and Tuchel

His move to join the Foxes in the summer of 2015 turned out to be a masterstroke. A couple of weeks later Leicester appointed Claudio Ranieri and the rest is history. The Italian came to the club in the midst of a pre-season camp in Austria and his hands-off approach produced miracles. {'When you see Claudio you picture an seasoned professional, so long in the business, maybe a bit old school, but he’s anything but,' Fuchs explains. {'He just said he was going to monitor 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 studied 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 extra out of the players? How can I push them mentally?’’ Fuchs says of Tuchel. {'That’s a significant part of our approach as well. How can you make good players who choose wisely? Back then he was probably in a comparable position to where I am now … very focused, very anxious to prove himself.'

Background and a Stubborn Mindset

Fuchs’s motivation comes from his early years 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 skilled enough,' he discloses. {'There are people who let that get the better of them or there are people who say: ‘Forget you, I’m going to show you.’ I’ve been told too many times: ‘You cannot do this, you can not do that.’ I’m going to demonstrate that I can and give absolutely everything. The other thing about my personality is: I’m very stubborn. If I see promise, I’m making it happen.'

Analytical Approach and the Battle 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, presenting a slide he presented to his players. {'The team hit many, many season bests,' he explains, noting ball progression and statistics about penetrating defensive lines. Passing accuracy was recorded at 87%. {'Not happy with that … that needs to be in the 90-95% range,' he states. {'My first game, it was very direct, League Two football, but we want to be distinct. 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 managed 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 secured three points 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 earned a valuable point. {'We need to be a dominant side at home,' Fuchs says. {'It’s just not good enough, not even having a win. We need to construct a fortress.'

One of the Lads at Heart

By his own admission, Fuchs relishes a challenge. {'What’s so bad with that?' He retired less than three years ago and, like Tuchel, loves being in the thick of things. {'I’m a component of the group. I’m still a player inside,' he says, pointing to his chest. {'At training I’m always joining in in the boxes – two pannas already, brilliant! 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 working on this as one.'