A lowdown from Peterborough United's new signing Evan Weir from the Walsall camp

The 24-year-old left-sided defender has become Posh’s first summer signings after joining on a free transfer following the expiration of his contract with the Saddlers.

He played the last two season at Walsall- notably alongside David Okagbue during the 2024-25 season- and George has watching him closely for all of that time.

Here is his verdict...

His Walsall spell as a whole

I would say it was a mixed spell. I would have said that David Okagbue also had a mixed spell at Walsall but definitely had potential and that’s the same with Weir. He had highs and lows. As Peterborough have clearly recognised though, there is still potential there.

He has a really interesting story and didn’t come through the traditional route. He played for local university clubs in Ireland- UCD and Maynooth university Town- and was working as a part-time electrician right before signing for Drogheda (the club Walsall signed him from).

He arrived in summer 2024 but went back to Drogheda on loan for for a few months until the end of the Irish season.

Evan just couldn’t get a look in ahead of Taylor Allen in his first season but did generally well when he came in, especially in the cup games. He admitted that he had a debut in League Two to forget. He played Left wing-back against Milton Keynes and he looked completely out of his depth.

He didn’t start in the league for another four months after that but when he did, he had clearly progressed nicely and made a wonderful goalline clearance against Notts County that went viral.

When Allen went to Wycombe last summer, Evan was given the opportunity to take over. It looked a really good decision to trust him to take over from Allen in the first three or four months of last season but his performances suffered after that. He then found himself unable to get a game.

Why did he not feature in the last ten games (left out of the squad nine times)?

He has had some low moments and didn’t play a single minute under Darren Byfield in his interim spell. Byfield went on record to say that Weir played on the left of a back three previously and that he wanted to switch to a 4-3-3. I think he viewed Weir as a left back in that system but Mason Hancock was given the nod over him. A change in system and the fact he was below another player contributed to that ultimately.

After what was a really strong start to the season for him, a few mistakes did creep in. He got caught dwelling on the ball on a couple of occasions and cost the team goals on a couple of occasions. Sometimes, in his distribution from deep, he dices with danger a little bit.

He also have a spell out of the side under Mat Sadler.

What can Posh fans expect from him?

One thing you will get is someone who has great expertise and technique on set-pieces. He scored a free-kick on the opening day against Wigan after nine minutes and did the same against Tranmere in September; capping it off with a superb volley on the edge of the box. He can be a real threat in the final third.

Where is his best position?

If Williams is going with a back three, I can only see him playing as a left centre back. I don’t think he is defensively strong enough in a back four. Positionally, he doesn’t strike me as an orthodox left back so I feel his main position would be a left centre-back in a back three. That is where he excelled the most.