'I estimate that the chances of us transforming our fortunes are less than Leicester claiming the Premier League, so they are in our benefit, right?' The Austrian veteran is reflecting on his recent venture as manager of the League Two strugglers, and the monumental task of averting 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 provided him with much more than a champion's gong. {'It assisted in altering my mindset a little bit ... it showed that the unattainable can be achievable,' he notes.
The natural place to start is: what was the journey that led Fuchs find himself here? 'I guess that's the part that's illogical, right?' he states, letting out a chuckle. It is the 39-year-old's opening gambit and a clear demonstration of his engaging character across a colourful conversation. The discussion travels in various tangents, from playing for Thomas Tuchel and the former Leicester manager to the urgent quest 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, along with a couple of professional photographs from that memorable year. {'Young Fuchs,' he muses, with a smile. Another envelope brings a stash of old stickers, one from an album marking Euro 2016, when he led Austria. A greeting from the Newport Supporters’ Club has pride of place. Things like this genuinely makes me very happy,' he states.
Prior to his move back from North Carolina to accept his first job in senior management last month, Fuchs’s most recent encounter to Rodney Parade was in January 2019, when Leicester were on the end of a Newport cupset in the FA Cup third round. During that match a former full-back duelled against Fuchs. {'He had the performance of his career,' Fuchs admits. But when the teamsheets were released, an interesting error came to light. {'You need to edit this,' Fuchs jokes. 'They got wrong my name – somehow a 'k' found its way in in place of the 'h'. It is funny because Fuchs, in German, means fox, so it’s something pleasant.'
His choice to join the Foxes in the summer of 2015 proved brilliant. A couple of weeks later Leicester hired 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 observational approach worked wonders. {'When you see Claudio you imagine an seasoned professional, so long in the business, maybe a bit traditional, but he’s the complete opposite,' Fuchs states. {'He just said he was going to observe 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 change anything.''
Fuchs holds dear lessons learned 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 major part of our approach as well. How can you make good decision-makers? Back then he was probably in a comparable position to where I am now … very driven, very eager to prove himself.'
Fuchs’s motivation stems from his upbringing in Neunkirchen. {'There are comparisons to where we are now, because I was told when I was 11 years old that I would never be good enough,' he discloses. {'There are people who let that overcome 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 prove that I can and put in the hard yards. The other thing about my personality is: I’m quite headstrong. If I see possibility, I’m doing it.'
Fuchs’s assistant, Mark Smith, was born in Newport and formerly ran Fuchs’s Fox Soccer Academy. Fuchs opens his laptop to show analytics from a recent 2-2 draw, sharing a slide he showed his players. {'The team hit many, many season peaks,' he explains, emphasizing ball progression and statistics about penetrating defensive lines. Passing accuracy was shown as 87%. {'Not happy with that … that needs to be in the mid-90s,' he states. {'My first game, it was very physical, lower-league football, but we want to be unique. I think a five-yard pass has a higher percentage to be successful than just going long all the time.'
The general numbers paint grim reading. Newport have secured 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 last-gasp equaliser with 10 men earned a crucial point. {'We need to be a power at home,' Fuchs says. {'It’s just not acceptable, not even having a win. We need to build a stronghold.'
By his own acknowledgement, Fuchs likes a challenge. {'What’s so wrong with that?' He retired 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 in here,' he states, indicating his chest. {'At training I’m always getting involved in the drills – two megs already, get in! 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 collectively.'
