From Premier League champion to a League Two relegation scrap, Christian Fuchs is experiencing football from a whole new angle. The Austrian defender, forever etched in history as part of Leicester City's miraculous 2015-16 title-winning squad, is now the manager fighting to keep Newport County in the English Football League.
Fuchs took the helm at Newport last November with the club in dire straits, rooted to the bottom of the League Two table. After a winless start, the Exiles have shown the kind of gritty resilience their manager was known for as a player, clawing their way out of the drop zone. The battle is far from over, however. With just four games remaining, Newport sits precariously in 22nd place, a single point above the relegation spots.
"The boys' mentality is such a big strength," Fuchs says, highlighting the fight within his squad. "Despite all the adversity, despite all the setbacks, they are up for it and they keep going." This Saturday's crucial home match against Harrogate Town is the next test in a tense survival run-in that could all come down to a final-day showdown at Barrow.
For a player who competed in the Bundesliga, the Champions League, and lifted the Premier League trophy, the challenges of League Two are a world away. Yet, guiding Newport to safety would rank among his proudest achievements. "It would definitely be very high up," Fuchs admits, before quickly refocusing on the task at hand. "But I don't want to get ahead of myself... there's still a lot of work that needs to go in." It's a classic underdog story, and Fuchs is once again at the heart of the fight.
