🔗 Share this article

'I estimate that the chances of us turning the season around are lower than Leicester claiming the Premier League, so they are in our benefit, right?' The Austrian veteran is talking about his fresh chapter as manager of the Football League's bottom club, 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 fairytale title win in 2016 gave him far more than a champion's gong. {'It assisted in altering my mindset a little bit ... it proved that the unattainable can be possible,' he notes.

The Surprising Path to Rodney Parade

The natural place to start is: how did Fuchs find himself here? 'I guess that's the part that's illogical, right?' he states, letting out a laugh. This serves as the 39-year-old's initial statement and a clear demonstration of his playful character across a wide-ranging conversation. The discussion runs in different directions, from working under Thomas Tuchel and the former Leicester manager to the pressing need to find a barber in the area.

He looks at some mail on his desk. There is a letter from a Leicester supporter wishing him well, accompanied by a couple of shiny pictures from that season. {'Young Fuchs,' he remarks, smiling. Another delivery brings a hoard of old Panini stickers, one from an album marking Euro 2016, when he led Austria. A card from the Newport Supporters’ Club has pride of place. Things like this really makes me very content,' he concludes.

A Previous Visit and a Typographical Error

Until his move back from North Carolina to accept his first job in frontline management last month, Fuchs’s last trip to Rodney Parade was in January 2019, when Leicester suffered a Newport shock defeat in the FA Cup third round. During that match the Newport kit man competed with Fuchs. {'He had the game of his life,' Fuchs recalls. But when the official sheets dropped, an interesting error emerged. {'You need to edit this,' Fuchs remarks. 'They got wrong my name – somehow a 'k' found its way in in place of the 'h'. It is hilarious because Fuchs, in German, means fox, so it’s something nice.'

Lessons from The Tinkerman, Rodgers and Tuchel

His choice to join the Foxes in the summer of 2015 turned out to be inspired. A couple of weeks later Leicester appointed Claudio Ranieri and the rest is history. The Italian arrived at the club in the middle of a pre-season camp in Austria and his hands-off approach worked wonders. {'When you see Claudio you envision an seasoned professional, so long in the business, maybe a bit set in his ways, but he’s anything but,' Fuchs says. {'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 modify 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 additional out of the players? How can I test them mentally?’’ Fuchs says of Tuchel. {'That’s a significant part of our methodology 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 motivated, very anxious to prove himself.'

Origins and a Resolute Character

Fuchs’s determination stems 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 reveals. {'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 cannot do this, you cannot do that.’ I’m going to show that I can and work my socks off. The other thing about my character is: I’m pretty headstrong. If I see possibility, I’m going for it.'

Data-Driven Approach and the Struggle for Survival

Fuchs’s assistant, Mark Smith, was born in Newport and previously led Fuchs’s Fox Soccer Academy. Fuchs boots up his laptop to show data from a recent 2-2 draw, displaying a slide he showed his players. {'The team hit many, many season peaks,' he says, emphasizing ball progression and statistics about getting behind defensive lines. Passing accuracy was logged at 87%. {'Not happy with that … that needs to be in the mid-90s,' he states. {'My first game, it was very physical, League Two football, but we want to be different. I think a five-yard pass has a higher probability to find its target than just launching it all the time.'

The overarching numbers make grim 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 tasted victory 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 dominant side at home,' Fuchs stresses. {'It’s just not acceptable, not even having a win. We need to build a stronghold.'

In the Thick of It at Heart

By his own acknowledgement, Fuchs relishes a challenge. {'What’s so negative with that?' He retired less than three years ago and, like Tuchel, enjoys being in the middle of the action. {'I’m a member of the group. I’m still a player in here,' he states, indicating his chest. {'At training I’m always participating in the small-sided games – two nutmegs already, get in! I want us to regard each other as one team. Yes, you’re the ones on the field, but we’re all in this together, we’re tackling this as one.'