Weir sees play-offs as realistic target

New boss has sights set on more than simply avoiding the drop

Jim Weir won’t be taking on his new job with a mindset of just avoiding relegation.

The recently-appointed Forfar boss believes there is plenty of time for his side, bottom of League One, to rise into play-off contention.

When Weir started out at his last club, Elgin City, they too were at the foot of their table.

But he was able to make an instant impact there in November 2014, and this time he is getting the Forfar post even earlier in a season.

He said: “It was with a heavy heart that I’ve left Elgin because the people at the club and the supporters have been really good to me.

“But it was a no-brainer for me to come to Forfar once I had spoken to the chairman and vice-chairman.

“It has always been a club I’ve admired, whether it was as a player or when I was an opposition manager.

“This is a higher league than the one I’ve come from and every league has its own challenges. You’ll always come up against clubs with bigger budgets and things like that.

“I’m coming in at a good time, with only eight league games played. “It’s not too late in the season. “With a couple of wins you’re starting to get into the middle of the table.

“When we took over at Elgin we got to within one game of the play-offs. There’s no reason why Forfar can’t be looking to push up the table and then it’s all about hitting form at the right time.”

Weir will now be the answer of pub quiz questions, as his Forfar appointment completes the full set of the four senior Angus clubs.

“I’ve benefited from my experiences at all the clubs,” he said.

“I’m going to be working for really good people who believe in me and identified me as their unanimous choice. I know that people at the other Angus clubs spoke highly of me.

“The set-up here is excellent and hopefully we can have some young players coming through to play for us. There’s nothing better than seeing that happen.

“There are good players here and I know most of them. I’ve played with some, managed some and come up against others. I’ve tried to sign a few of the players, in fact, but Forfar were a bigger attraction.

“Supporters will always have an opinion on a new manager when he comes in. It’s the same everywhere.

“Forfar fans can be sure that I’ll give everything to get the team winning and playing entertaining football. It’s important the players get the supporters behind them because they want to see a winning team.”

Weir’s assistant at Elgin, Gavin Price, will be in charge of City for their Irn-Bru Cup tie this weekend then make the switch to Forfar.

With a couple of wins you’re starting to get into the middle of the table. JIM WEIR

Picture: SNS. New manager Jim Weir is looking to lift Forfar into play-off contention.