Best FM 2013 Stories: MTidd’s Chester Story

Hey guys and welcome to another FMS Story award. This time we’ll look at MTidd’s Chester Story, a thread in the forum that tracks the rise of a small wee club from the Blue Square North.

There’s no better feeling in Football Manager than taking a tiny club and hitting it large. Seeing their value rise from tens of thousands up to tens of millions and reaching the promised land! Such a journey also makes for one hell of a read in your spare time, making this story a must see. But how has MTidd’s done so far, lets see…

The career so far — Chester FC

Season one (2012/13)

Finished 1st in Blue Square North

Knocked out in 3rd round of FA Cup to Cardiff

Season two (2013/14)

Finished 2nd in Blue Square Premier

Won the BSP play-off final vs Kidderminster gaining promotion

Knocked out in 1st round of FA Cup to Crewe

Season three (2014/15)

Finished 1st in League Two

Knocked out early in JPT and Carling Cup

Knocked out in 5th round of FA Cup to Chelsea (but beat Arsenal in the process)

Season four (2015/16)

Finished 8th in League One

Won the JPT vs Millwall

Knocked out in 1st Round of Carling Cup to Blackpool

Knocked out in 4th round of FA Cup to Man Utd

Season five (2016/17)

Finished 2nd in League One gaining promotion

Won the JPT vs Swindon

Knocked out in 1st Round of Carling Cup to Shrewsbury

Knocked out in 3rd round of FA Cup to Middlesbrough

Season six (2017/18)

Finished 2nd in Championship gaining promotion

Knocked out in 2nd Round of Carling Cup to Barnsley

Knocked out in 5th round of FA Cup to Spurs (but beat United in the process)

Chester — Season seven (2018/19)

Finished 14th in Premier League

Knocked out in 3rd Round of Carling Cup to Crewe

Knocked out in 5th round of FA Cup to Spurs (but beat United in the process)

Cameroon — Season seven (2018/19)

Won the African Cup of Nations (Resigned shortly after)

Season eight (2019/20)

13th in Premier League

Knocked out in 2nd Round of Carling Cup to Portsmouth

Knocked out in 3rd round of FA Cup to Burnley

MTidd’s enjoyed a great ride to the top, enduring a  minor blip in League One before charging forward once more. After reaching the Premier League, MTidds accepted the Cameroon job and went on to win the African Cup of Nations resigning after enjoying an unbeaten record. And Watford (currently 2nd in the EPL) approached MTidd’s to become their boss most recently, but a readers vote kept the story on track to be an epic rise to glory with Chester.

That is where the story lies, but what next? Let’s have a quick chat with the man himself and see if we can get some insights.

Darren: You have risen fast to the EPL, but it feels as though the save has slowed down somewhat. Naturally your side will take time to adapt in the EPL, but realistically, how long before we can see Chester in Europe?

MTidds: After staying up last season, I thought we would really kick on this season, and finish in the top half, and maybe even challenge for Europe. Instead, we’ve not had the best season, and gone on a long losing run. We’ve started improving again recently (as soon as our best player came back from injury), and should comfortably stay up. I’m aiming to get a European place in the season after next, as some of our younger players grow up. With a good transfer budget (which we have been getting recently), I may be able to challenge next season, but that seems unlikely at the moment.

Darren: A readers vote kept you at Chester, but if it were down to you alone, would you have taken the job offer at Watford?

MTidds: It was a really tough choice, as there aren’t many clubs I would have left Chester for, but that Watford job just sparked my imagination. They were second in the league, had a good, young, English squad, and wanted me as manager.

They only had 4/5 defenders though, and a few injuries could have made their job a bit thin. I guess I was just really despondent with how Chester were going then, having lost about 10 matches in a row, but as long as we stay up, I think I’ve made the right decision. It’s been hard enough work getting to the EPL, it’s not worth throwing it all away now.

Darren: I recently rose through the leagues with Gateshead, seeing my tactics change almost every season to cope with the new demands, how have you approached tactics. One set system, or have you switched and changed to suit?

MTidds: Before starting the save, I read a post about slow tempo, possession football. I’d always played quick tempo football before, and decided I’d like to experiment. Despite knowing it wouldn’t suit a Blue Square Bet North team, I decided to stick with it, and I have.

I have two systems: a 4-2-3-1 with a ball-winning midfielder, a box-to-box mid, an advanced playmaker (filling the 2 central midfield and then attacking midfield roles), a winger and an inside forward, with a poacher up front. I’ve also recently introduced a ball-playing defender, to start off my attacks. This is for matches I wish to dominate, as I play fluid control football, and I’m generally more successful with this tactic. The second one is a 4-3-3, with an anchor man, a deep-lying playmaker and an advanced playmaker (filling the defensive midfielder and 2 central midfield roles). Again I have a winger on the right and an inside forward on the left, and a poacher. I play on the counter, and use it when we’re the underdogs.

I have tinkered a bit with the tactics, but not at all for a few years now. I considered it on our losing run, but they’re still working well. One thing I’m thinking about doing once we’re a top team (and something I’ve never tried before) is playing with a sweeper-keeper, as we have a very high defensive line. It’s just a thought, though, and it could be a while until we’re good enough to do this  :P

Thanks to MTidds for the interview and one hell of a story, I just hope we can see Chester’s continuous rise remain and maybe even some European silverware soon.

If you’d like to be featured in the FMS Story Awards, just go to the FMS Forum and start a new thread with your FM13 story. Thanks for reading and please feel free to comment or ask any questions below.