After a decent debut season in the Allsvenskan for GIF Sundsvall last year, 2016 will be remembered as a year of frustration and wasted potential. GIF managed to crawl over the safety line this year but in the second half of the season the club only managed a single league win which came over Jonkopings in round 25 and effectively saw them to safety. In the opening period of the year, until the summer break for the European Championship, GIF had been on fine form, picking up wins against eventual league champions Malmo and top half side Ostersunds as well as some creditable draws against the likes of AIK for example. They did this with a very stable side that contained a few players of real quality such as striker Pa Dibba who was their top scorer and Runar Sigurjonsson. But both of those players who bought up in the summer transfer window and their form began to slide drastically. The replacements brought in to try and compensate for those losses were not up to task and the confidence drained out of the team with each successive loss. A particular low point was the loss to semi pro side Norrtälje in the second round of the cup. Off the field there were problems too as the unique managerial structure of having two main head coaches was eventual scrapped when Roger Franzen was sacked near the end of the year leaving Joel Cedergren in sole charge. His position will come under scrutiny over the winter though as performances under him were not any better than before Franzen left. Contenders for player of the season are thin on the ground after the departures of Dibba and Sigurjonsson. The two players to have really played well this year were Lars Gerson who was hugely consistent in central midfield until an injury ended his season and Stefan Silva who scored seven in his first campaign with the club. The former of those two just about edges it as his absence was clearly felt by the team who disintegrated without his influence in the team. The main positive for GIF going forward is that the coaches have been able to supply the first team with a few exceptional youngsters, especially Peter Wilson who broke into the first team in the final third of the season. He announced his arrival with a hat trick in the win over Jonkopings but Jonathan Morsay and Erik Bjorkander also look like they could have big futures. The squad will need to be strengthened over the winter as there is quality missing, especially in central midfield where Gerson needs a long-term partner. But funds are tight for a club like GIF and 2017 could well be another tough year.
