Shocked Arbroath directors gathered at Gayfield to begin the task of finding a new manager, with chairman John Christison admitting Weir’s decision to walk away had left the Lichties stunned.
“We are extremely disappointed,” said Christison.
“Just last Tuesday Jim met with the board here and talked about the loyalty he felt towards Arbroath after we gave him the chance to get back into senior football management.
“He told us he felt he’d let people down in overseeing the club being relegated to the third division and promised to work hard to deliver a first ever championship for Arbroath next season.
“So when Brechin made their approach on Saturday morning asking for permission to talk to Jim about their vacancy, even though he wasn’t under contract, I was optimistic he’d remain with us.
“But when I phoned Jim to tell him of their interest he said he’d speak to his wife and to (assistant manager) Kevin McGowne and then come back to me.
“When he did so he said he would like to speak to Brechin and listen to what they had to say,” Christison said.
“I told him, on behalf of the board, that we were disappointed, that we’d hoped he would dismiss the Brechin thing out of hand.
“But as we had no contractual hold over him he was free to speak to Brechin, and I asked simply that he let us know the outcome of those discussions.Appalling timing”He called me late on Sunday night to say they’d talked and that he now wanted to sleep on his decision,” he continued.
“We got together at 7.30 at Gayfield where he advised us he was moving to pastures new.
“I’m not going to pretend we are happy about this.
“We’ve no problem with Brechin. They went about things the right way, seeking permission to talk to Jim when they didn’t have to.
“But the timing of Jim leaving is appalling. There’s only four weeks left till pre-season gets under way, we’ve nine players out of contract and a list of a dozen people that Jim had been speaking to about joining us.
“To be fair to him, he has offered to give us any assistance he can to allow us to address these situations. But we need to move quickly to get a new manager in place.”
Former St Johnstone midfielder Paul Sheerin looks to be the frontrunner for the job.
He lost out to Weir when the Lichties post fell vacant last November but impressed the Arbroath directors during the interview process.