{Christian Fuchs: 'I'm Quite Determined. Whenever I Notice Promise, I'm Going for It'|Ex-Leicester Star Christian Fuchs Opens Up on League Two Challenge

'I would say that the likelihood of us turning the season around are less than Leicester winning the Premier League, so they are in our favor, right?' Christian Fuchs is discussing his fresh chapter as manager of the Football League's bottom club, and the monumental task of averting a descent into non-league football. Here lies a challenge at the polar opposite of the scale, though that fairytale 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 possible,' he states.

The Surprising Path to Rodney Parade

The obvious place to start is: how did Fuchs wind up here? 'That's the aspect of the story that isn't straightforward, wouldn't you say?' he says, breaking into a chuckle. This serves as the 39-year-old's initial statement and a clear sign of his engaging character across a fascinating conversation. Our talk flows in various tangents, from being managed by Thomas Tuchel and the former Leicester manager to the urgent quest to find a nearby hairdresser.

He opens some correspondence on his desk. Among it is a letter from a Leicester supporter wishing him well, along with a couple of professional photographs from that campaign. {'Young Fuchs,' he muses, grinning. Another delivery brings a stash of old stickers, one from an album commemorating Euro 2016, when he led Austria. A greeting from the Newport Supporters’ Club is given special attention. Things like this genuinely makes me very happy,' he adds.

A Past Trip and a Funny Mistake

Prior to his move back from North Carolina to accept his first job in first-team coaching 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 the Newport kit man competed with Fuchs. {'He had the game of his life,' Fuchs recalls. But when the official sheets were released, an amusing error came to light. {'You need to edit this,' Fuchs jokes. 'They misspelt my name – somehow a 'k' smuggled itself in in place of the 'h'. It is funny because Fuchs, in German, means fox, so it’s something pleasant.'

Insights 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 joined the club in the midst of a pre-season camp in Austria and his light-touch approach worked wonders. {'When you see Claudio you envision an seasoned professional, so long in the business, maybe a bit traditional, but he’s so not,' Fuchs states. {'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 observed you for a week and I’m not going to change anything.''

Fuchs holds dear experiences from Rodgers and Tuchel, under whom he worked while on loan at Mainz. {'He always thought: ‘How can I get additional out of the players? How can I test them psychologically?’’ 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 similar situation to where I am now … very motivated, very anxious to prove himself.'

Origins and a Stubborn Nature

Fuchs’s motivation comes from his upbringing 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 discloses. {'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 not 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 pretty stubborn. If I see promise, I’m making it happen.'

Detailed Approach and the Fight for Survival

Fuchs’s assistant, Mark Smith, was born in Newport and formerly ran Fuchs’s Fox Soccer Academy. Fuchs boots up his laptop to show statistics from a recent 2-2 draw, displaying a slide he presented to his players. {'The team hit numerous season bests,' he says, emphasizing ball progression and statistics about breaking defensive lines. Passing accuracy was logged at 87%. {'Not happy with that … that needs to be in the 90-95% range,' he states. {'My first game, it was very long-ball, lower-league football, but we want to be different. I think a five-yard pass has a higher chance to find its target than just going long all the time.'

The broader numbers make sobering reading. Newport have won 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 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 power at home,' Fuchs stresses. {'It’s just not satisfactory, not even having a win. We need to construct a stronghold.'

Still a Player at Heart

By his own admission, Fuchs likes a challenge. {'What’s so negative with that?' He retired less than three years ago and, like Tuchel, likes being in the middle of the action. {'I’m a member of the group. I’m still a player in here,' he says, tapping his chest. {'At training I’m always joining in in the small-sided games – two pannas already, brilliant! I want us to see each other as a unified group. Yes, you’re the ones on the field, but we’re all in this together, we’re striving towards this together.'