Three americans at Färila IF: Andrew Stadler, Nermin Crnkic and James Weber

Färila IF play in Swedish Division 4 (sixth tier). The three americans arrived there a couple of weeks ago for unclear reasons. Stadler is 23 while Crnkic and Weber are 18 years old.

The team was dead last in their league but the new players seem to have had a big impact as the latest game ended in a 12-0 win for Färila. Weber scored five, Stadler three and Crnkic one goal. The official matchreport say that the whole team moved along with the U.S. rhythm! A more neutral report on the other hand said that Färila use a tactic where seven men defend and let the three remaining americans go crazy in the attack on their own.

Another report wrote that Stadler and Weber looked to be at least third/fourth tier quality while Crnkic seemed even better and it does seem like teams in higher divisions are already paying attention. Crnkic trained with Allsvenskan (first tier) club Gefle IF last week and played the full 90 minutes when their U21 team beat Djurgården 1-0. Both Crnkic and Weber are now also currently on trial with IK Brage in Superettan (second tier). There Crnkic has had even bigger success with a hat trick in the U21 game when Brage beat Syrianska 3-0. Crnkic is also supposed to return to Gefle and train with them again next week.

 

These guys seem to be doing a real tour around the clubs of northern Sweden. This time it's a Crnkic and Stadler combo who have arrived at Superettan club GIF Sundsvall to showcase their talent over the next two days.

This might be a good match knowing that GIF Sundsvall coach Åkeby has a real fetish for players like Crnkic (or at least the descriptions I've read of him).

 

Reading some articles it appears that they were brought over by Börje Gustavsson who used to be in charge of player scouting for Hammarby. He is apparantly originally from the Färila area so that's how they ended up in that specific club. With Gustavssons past employment in mind I can imagine that he has plenty of contacts making it easy to get trials. Apparantly he was also involved in bringing over another american trialist, JC Banks, during the winter transfer window.

 

Todays Sundsvall newspapers both featured interviews with the americans.

The club said:
"The trialists have looked good, they've been playing in the sixth tier which is way to low of a level for them. There are things that we wish they'd do different in training, but that has more to do with our style of play. They are absolutely interesting as possible summer signings. We will make an evaluation based on the training sessions and then see if anything will happen now, later or ever. A decision will be made next week."

Crnkic said:
"The main reason I'm in Sweden is that I want a pro contract and to see what kind of offers I can get. Both the players and the coaches here are good and I like the stadium. If they make me an offer it's definitely something I would consider. Next week I'm also going on a trial with Hammarby."

Stadler said:
"I'm trying to play well enough to get a contract, we'll see what happens. I have also been on a trial with Sandvikens IF and they were interested in me and that interest is mutual."

Sandviken is a club with a big history (ranked 17th in the overall Allsvenskan table) but they currently play in the fourth tier. Promotion seems likely though as they are currently second in the table and have already brought in another high quality signing.

 

GIF Sundsvall announced today that they will not be signing the americans, however the club is still interested in Crnkic for the future. The director of sports commented:

"We will wait and see. Crnkic will likely stay in Sweden which is perfect for us since we will be able to follow him during the fall."

 

Both Crnkic and Stadler have signed for Sandvikens IF, unclear how long their contracts are. Crnkic comments:

"It's nice to get a contract with a club that is doing well in their league and play at a higher level of the system. Gefle wanted to sign me but couldn't afford it right now. Their manager Pelle Olsson will be keeping track of me during the fall and maybe sign me in the winter transfer window."

Worth noting is that in their push for promotion the club has also signed former Gefle midfielder Woxlin who used to be a really high quality midfielder and who played under Gefle manager Olsson for a long time.

Sandviken is currently in second place in the fourth tier, two points behind leaders Enköping. Only one team is promoted. The league is currently on midseason break but when they start up again Sandviken are playing against GUSK which is the home of fellow american Greg Rosenthal.

The third american, James Weber, was not mentioned in the article so I guess his future is still unknown.

 

Even though they still have a couple of weeks until they are allowed to play in the league the americans have already had a successful start at Sandviken. The team played a final rehearsal game this weekend to prepare for the league starting again after the break. They won 6-2 against fellow fourth tier team Konyaspor. Both americans played the second half and Crnkic scored two goals and Stadler one.

 

They played their first league game for Sandviken today which the team won 3-2. Crnkic scored one of the goals and according to a report he was the best player on the team. If he continues to perform at this level then I think there's no doubt that Gefle, GIF Sundsvall or someone else will pick him up for next season.

 

I read another article on these two guys today, it was mostly stuff already written in this thread but it also revealed their salary. I know sometimes people on here wonder about these things so I thought I'd pass on the information. They're making $2350/month playing for Sandviken, the article didn't specify if they get an apartment and/or food for free though.

 

They seem to have continued to do well and often receive praise in the match reports. In contrast to the previous club though Stadler is the one getting the most positive reviews this time. Crnkic started off well but was later benched one game and the manager said to a local newspaper that it was because he had shown poor work rate. The next game he was back in the starting lineup so things probably improved. Other then that game they are always starters. Stadler has scored four and Crnkic one goal overall, they also have a bunch of assists.

It's a tough job getting promoted from this division since there is only one promotion spot but Sandviken are still in the running as they are currently in second place, two points behind with two games left to be played.

 

Well, I'm swedish and currently living only 20km from Sandviken so it's not hard to find info for me

To give a couple of online links though try the football section of the regional newspaper (although they obviously cover Allsvenskan team Gefle IF more then Sandviken). The manager also has a frequently update blog where he writes about the latest team news.