🔗 Share this article

'I estimate that the likelihood of us turning the season around are less than Leicester winning the Premier League, so they are in our favour, right?' Christian Fuchs is talking about his recent venture as manager of Newport County, and the immense task of preventing a fall into non-league football. Here lies a challenge at the polar opposite of the spectrum of success, though that unbelievable title win in 2016 furnished him far more than a champion's gong. {'It helped change my mindset a little bit ... it demonstrated that the impossible can be achievable,' he states.

'How Did Fuchs Wind Up Here?'

The natural place to start is: how did Fuchs find himself here? 'I imagine that's the part that's unpredictable, right?' he comments, letting out laughter. It is the 39-year-old's introductory line and a clear sign of his engaging character across a fascinating conversation. Our talk runs in multiple pathways, from playing for 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 message from a Leicester supporter wishing him well, paired with a couple of shiny pictures from that campaign. {'Young Fuchs,' he muses, smiling. Another package brings a stash of old Panini stickers, one from an album commemorating Euro 2016, when he captained Austria. A note from the Newport Supporters’ Club is given special attention. 'Stuff like this really makes me very happy,' he concludes.

A Prior Encounter and a Funny Mistake

Until coming back from North Carolina to assume his first job in frontline management last month, Fuchs’s previous visit to Rodney Parade was in January 2019, when Leicester were on the end of a Newport cupset in the FA Cup third round. That day David Pipe duelled against Fuchs. {'He had the game of his life,' Fuchs says. But when the teamsheets dropped, an curious error was discovered. {'You need to redact this,' Fuchs remarks. 'They got wrong 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 nice.'

Experiences from Claudio, Rodgers and Tuchel

His decision to join the Foxes in the summer of 2015 proved a masterstroke. A couple of weeks later Leicester hired Claudio Ranieri and what followed is legendary. The Italian came to the club in the heart of a pre-season camp in Austria and his hands-off approach did the trick. {'When you observe Claudio you imagine an older man, so long in the business, maybe a bit old school, but he’s so not,' Fuchs says. {'He just said he was going to monitor 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 watched you for a week and I’m not going to alter anything.''

Fuchs cherishes lessons learned from Rodgers and Tuchel, under whom he worked while on loan at Mainz. {'He always considered: ‘How can I get extra out of the players? How can I push them psychologically?’’ Fuchs says of Tuchel. {'That’s a big part of our approach as well. How can you make good players who choose wisely? Back then he was probably in a analogous place to where I am now … very driven, very eager to prove himself.'

Background and a Determined Character

Fuchs’s motivation stems 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 good enough,' he reveals. {'There are people who let that overcome them or there are people who say: ‘Watch me, 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 prove that I can and put in the hard yards. The other thing about my character is: I’m quite determined. If I see possibility, I’m doing it.'

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 statistics from a recent 2-2 draw, presenting a slide he presented to his players. {'The team hit numerous season bests,' he explains, highlighting ball progression and statistics about penetrating defensive lines. Passing accuracy was recorded at 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 distinct. I think a five-yard pass has a higher percentage to arrive than just launching it all the time.'

The general numbers paint grim reading. Newport have managed 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 injury-time equaliser with 10 men earned a precious point. {'We need to be a power at home,' Fuchs says. {'It’s just not satisfactory, not even having a win. We need to construct a stronghold.'

One of the Lads at Heart

By his own acknowledgement, Fuchs enjoys a challenge. {'What’s so wrong with that?' He ended his playing career less than three years ago and, like Tuchel, loves being in the heart of the battle. {'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 nutmegs already, yes! I want us to view each other as a unified group. Yes, you’re the ones on the field, but we’re one team, we’re tackling this collectively.'