🔗 Share this article

'The prospect of a late surge is arguably a longer shot than that historic 5,000-1 title, which logically puts the odds in our favor.' The Austrian veteran is talking about his recent venture as boss of the Football League's bottom club, and the daunting task of averting a fall into non-league football. This represents a challenge at the complete other end of the spectrum of success, though that fairytale title win in 2016 provided him with far more than a Premier League trophy. {'It helped change my outlook a little bit ... it showed that the unthinkable can be possible,' he states.

'How Did Fuchs End Up Here?'

The obvious place to start is: what was the journey that led Fuchs find himself here? 'I imagine that's the part that's illogical, right?' he comments, erupting in a laugh. It is the 39-year-old's initial statement and a clear sign of his charismatic character across a fascinating conversation. The discussion flows in various tangents, from working under the current England boss and the former Leicester manager to the urgent quest to find a nearby hairdresser.

He opens some correspondence on his desk. There is a letter from a Leicester supporter sending best wishes, along with a couple of glossy photos from that memorable year. {'Young Fuchs,' he muses, with a smile. 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 genuinely makes me very happy,' he states.

A Previous Visit and a Funny Mistake

Prior to his move back from North Carolina to assume his first job in first-team coaching last month, Fuchs’s most recent encounter to Rodney Parade was in January 2019, when Leicester suffered a Newport cupset in the FA Cup third round. On that occasion David Pipe duelled against Fuchs. {'He had the performance of his life,' Fuchs recalls. But when the lineup cards dropped, an curious error was discovered. {'You need to edit this,' Fuchs remarks. 'They misspelled my name – somehow a 'k' crept in in place of the 'h'. It is amusing because Fuchs, in German, means fox, so it’s something nice.'

Insights from Claudio, Rodgers and Tuchel

His choice to join the Foxes in the summer of 2015 turned out to be a masterstroke. A couple of weeks later Leicester hired Claudio Ranieri and an iconic story unfolded. The Italian joined the club in the midst of a pre-season camp in Austria and his light-touch approach produced miracles. {'When you observe Claudio you imagine an older man, so a veteran of the sport, maybe a bit old school, but he’s anything but,' Fuchs says. {'He just said he was going to watch 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 cherishes insights gained 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 push them psychologically?’’ Fuchs says of Tuchel. {'That’s a big part of our methodology as well. How can you make good thinkers on the pitch? Back then he was probably in a similar situation to where I am now … very motivated, very anxious to prove himself.'

Background and a Stubborn Character

Fuchs’s motivation originates in 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 capable enough,' he discloses. {'There are people who let that defeat them or there are people who say: ‘Forget you, I’m going to show you.’ I’ve been told too many times: ‘You can not do this, you can't do that.’ I’m going to demonstrate 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 making it happen.'

Detailed Approach and the Struggle for Survival

Fuchs’s assistant, Mark Smith, was born in Newport and previously led Fuchs’s Fox Soccer Academy. Fuchs fires up his laptop to show data from a recent 2-2 draw, displaying a slide he used with his players. {'The team hit many, many season bests,' he explains, emphasizing 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 distinct. I think a five-yard pass has a higher chance to find its target than just going long all the time.'

The general numbers paint 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 secured three points at home for 273 days and have kept just two clean sheets in 26 matches this season. But a recent last-gasp equaliser with 10 men garnered a valuable point. {'We need to be a power at home,' Fuchs emphasizes. {'It’s just not good enough, not even having a win. We need to create a stronghold.'

In the Thick of It at Heart

By his own confession, Fuchs enjoys a challenge. {'What’s so bad with that?' He ended his playing career less than three years ago and, like Tuchel, loves being in the middle of the action. {'I’m a member of the group. I’m still a player in here,' he remarks, pointing to his chest. {'At training I’m always getting involved in the small-sided games – two pannas already, brilliant! I want us to see each other as a single unit. Yes, you’re the ones on the field, but we’re a collective, we’re tackling this together.'