Published: 17:00, 5 February 2026 | Updated: 17:00, 5 February 2026

Christian Fuchs, the Premier League title winner, takes it upon himself to shift a red plastic road barrier off the artificial training pitch then strides back, dropping a plastic cone every few paces, before trotting towards us to grab a handful of bibs.

For a man who played his part in one sporting miracle, such honours count for nothing when there’s another to achieve at the other end of football’s pyramid. It’s all hands to the pump.

The former Leicester City defender and 78-cap Austria international must keep Newport County in the Football League in his first job in management. When Fuchs took charge 11 weeks ago, the club were bottom of the pile.

‘I like a challenge but this, for my first job, is probably the toughest of them all,’ Fuchs tells Daily Mail Sport.

His first port of call was an old friend. He sent a text to Jamie Vardy, his former Leicester team-mate, now plying his trade at Cremonese in Italy. ‘I asked Jamie if he wants to pack...