🔗 Share this article

'The prospect of a seasonal revival is arguably more remote than that legendary 5,000-1 title, which somehow puts the odds in our favour.' Christian Fuchs is reflecting on his recent venture as boss of the Football League's bottom club, and the immense task of staving off a fall into non-league football. Here lies a challenge at the complete other end of the spectrum of success, though that miraculous title win in 2016 gave him a great deal more than a champion's gong. {'It helped change my outlook a little bit ... it demonstrated that the unthinkable can be possible,' he states.

'How Did Fuchs Find Himself Here?'

The natural place to start is: how did Fuchs wind up here? 'That's the element of the story that defies logic, wouldn't you say?' he states, letting out a chuckle. This serves as the 39-year-old's initial statement and a clear demonstration of his engaging character across a fascinating conversation. The discussion flows in various tangents, from playing for the current England boss and the former Leicester manager to the pressing need to find a barber in the area.

He looks at some correspondence on his desk. There is a message from a Leicester supporter offering encouragement, accompanied by a couple of professional photographs from that campaign. {'Young Fuchs,' he muses, smiling. Another package brings a hoard of old collector's items, one from an album celebrating Euro 2016, when he captained Austria. A card from the Newport Supporters’ Club is displayed prominently. Items like this really makes me very pleased,' he concludes.

A Previous Visit and a Funny Mistake

Prior to returning from North Carolina to accept his first job in frontline management last month, Fuchs’s previous visit to Rodney Parade was in January 2019, when Leicester endured a Newport shock defeat in the FA Cup third round. That day a former full-back duelled against Fuchs. {'He had the game of his career,' Fuchs says. But when the official sheets dropped, an interesting error was discovered. {'You need to redact this,' Fuchs jokes. '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 pleasant.'

Experiences from Ranieri, Rodgers and Tuchel

His move to join the Foxes in the summer of 2015 proved inspired. A couple of weeks later Leicester appointed Claudio Ranieri and an iconic story unfolded. The Italian came to the club in the heart of a pre-season camp in Austria and his hands-off approach produced miracles. {'When you look at Claudio you envision an seasoned professional, so long in the business, maybe a bit set in his ways, but he’s anything but,' Fuchs explains. {'He just said he was going to watch 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 observed you for a week and I’m not going to change anything.''

Fuchs values experiences from Rodgers and Tuchel, under whom he worked while on loan at Mainz. {'He always considered: ‘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 methodology as well. How can you make good thinkers on the pitch? Back then he was probably in a analogous place to where I am now … very focused, very eager to prove himself.'

Roots and a Determined Character

Fuchs’s motivation stems from his childhood 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 shares. {'There are people who let that get the better of 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 cannot do that.’ I’m going to show that I can and put in the hard yards. The other thing about my personality is: I’m pretty headstrong. If I see promise, I’m going for it.'

Data-Driven Approach and the Struggle 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 data from a recent 2-2 draw, sharing a slide he showed his players. {'The team hit several season peaks,' he explains, emphasizing ball progression and statistics about getting behind defensive lines. Passing accuracy was recorded at 87%. {'Not pleased with that … that needs to be in the 90-95% range,' he declares. {'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 find its target than just going long all the time.'

The broader numbers make bleak reading. Newport have secured 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 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 garnered a valuable point. {'We need to be a dominant side at home,' Fuchs emphasizes. {'It’s just not satisfactory, not even having a win. We need to construct a impenetrable home.'

One of the Lads at Heart

By his own confession, Fuchs enjoys a challenge. {'What’s so negative 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 component of the group. I’m still a player inside,' he states, tapping 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 a unified group. Yes, you’re the ones on the field, but we’re all in this together, we’re working on this collectively.'