{Christian Fuchs: 'I'm Very Headstrong. If I See Possibility, I'm Doing It'|Former Foxes Defender Christian Fuchs Speaks Candidly on Newport County Challenge

'I would say that the odds of us turning the season around are slimmer than Leicester lifting the Premier League, so they are in our favor, right?' Christian Fuchs is talking about his new life as manager of the Football League's bottom club, and the monumental task of averting a fall into non-league football. This represents a challenge at the complete other end of the scale, though that unbelievable title win in 2016 provided him with far more than a Premier League trophy. {'It contributed to shifting my mindset a little bit ... it showed that the unthinkable can be possible,' he states.

The Unlikely Path to Rodney Parade

The obvious place to start is: how did Fuchs find himself here? 'I guess that's the part that's not logical, right?' he states, breaking into a chuckle. It is the 39-year-old's initial statement and a clear indication of his playful character across a fascinating conversation. Our talk runs in various tangents, from working under Thomas Tuchel and Brendan Rodgers to the immediate requirement to find a nearby hairdresser.

He sorts through some correspondence on his desk. Included is a note from a Leicester supporter wishing him well, accompanied by a couple of professional photographs from that memorable year. {'Young Fuchs,' he muses, grinning. Another envelope brings a collection of old Panini stickers, one from an album commemorating Euro 2016, when he captained Austria. A greeting from the Newport Supporters’ Club has pride of place. Items like this really makes me very happy,' he states.

A Prior Encounter and a Typographical Error

Prior to coming back from North Carolina to take on his first job in frontline management last month, Fuchs’s last trip to Rodney Parade was in January 2019, when Leicester were on the end of a Newport cupset in the FA Cup third round. On that occasion David Pipe competed with Fuchs. {'He had the match of his life,' Fuchs admits. But when the teamsheets dropped, an curious error was discovered. {'You need to redact this,' Fuchs says with a smile. 'They misspelt my name – somehow a 'k' smuggled itself in in place of the 'h'. It is hilarious because Fuchs, in German, means fox, so it’s something fitting.'

Experiences from Claudio, Rodgers and Tuchel

His choice to join the Foxes in the summer of 2015 turned out to be brilliant. A couple of weeks later Leicester brought in Claudio Ranieri and what followed is legendary. The Italian joined the club in the midst of a pre-season camp in Austria and his light-touch approach worked wonders. {'When you observe Claudio you imagine an older man, so long in the business, maybe a bit traditional, but he’s so not,' Fuchs says. {'He just said he was going to watch 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 observed you for a week and I’m not going to modify anything.''

Fuchs cherishes 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 big part of our approach as well. How can you make good decision-makers? Back then he was probably in a analogous place to where I am now … very driven, very anxious to prove himself.'

Origins and a Resolute Character

Fuchs’s motivation originates in his childhood 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 shares. {'There are people who let that get the better of 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't do that.’ I’m going to demonstrate that I can and work my socks off. The other thing about my make-up is: I’m very stubborn. If I see possibility, I’m making it happen.'

Detailed Approach and the Struggle for Survival

Fuchs’s assistant, Mark Smith, was born in Newport and formerly ran Fuchs’s Fox Soccer Academy. Fuchs opens his laptop to show statistics from a recent 2-2 draw, presenting a slide he showed his players. {'The team hit many, many season highs,' he points out, 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 insists. {'My first game, it was very long-ball, fourth-tier football, but we want to be unique. I think a five-yard pass has a higher percentage to arrive than just going long all the time.'

The broader numbers present bleak reading. Newport have secured three of 19 league matches and are without a victory 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 93rd-minute equaliser with 10 men earned a crucial point. {'We need to be a power at home,' Fuchs stresses. {'It’s just not satisfactory, not even having a win. We need to construct a fortress.'

One of the Lads at Heart

By his own confession, Fuchs relishes a challenge. {'What’s so wrong with that?' He ended his playing career less than three years ago and, like Tuchel, likes being in the heart of the battle. {'I’m a part of the group. I’m still a player in here,' he states, indicating his chest. {'At training I’m always participating in the drills – two megs already, brilliant! I want us to regard each other as a unified group. Yes, you’re the ones on the field, but we’re all in this together, we’re tackling this collectively.'