David Weir understands that the art of management often involves delivering a compromise.

As he was unveiled as the new manager of Sheffield United yesterday, he talked about the expectations of the club and his own ambitions, but also of sustainability and a long-term plan. He has taken over a team that has established itself in a period of decline, and somehow has to find a balance between delivering an immediate resurgence and restoring the club's foundations.

Weir was offered a coaching role by Roberto Martinez, the new Everton manager, and might have continued his coaching education at the club, where he had been operating as Alan Stubbs' assistant with the under-21 squad. The former Scotland international has, though, long been planning for a career in management, and was even interviewed among the candidates to succeed David Moyes at Goodison. At 43, Weir is able to move more seamlessly from retiring as a player to management, but United are a side that will challenge all of his credentials.

They are a big club, from a large city that has a long tradition of commitment and loyalty to its two football teams. Yet United have languished in League One, and the sense is of a club that needs to be rejuvenated. Julian Winter, the chief executive, talked of Weir "changing the culture" of United, but even the recruitment process revealed the state of the organisation.

Stuart McCall, a former Sheffield United player, turned the job down, despite the offer of a higher salary and the fact that Motherwell will be cost-cutting this summer. Graham Arnold, the former Australia manager, described United as "prehistoric" after his interview, which was held by video call. Arnold claimed that he had discussed a "short passing game" yet the questions were all about "smashing the ball long". Winter denied this, and it seems odd that Arnold was so scathing since Kevin McCabe, the United owner, is also a director of Central Coast Mariners, the club that Arnold currently manages.

United cannot escape their status as a big club that has found itself mired in a period of mediocrity. The challenge for Weir is to begin the revival process, but there will be a cut to the playing budget. There are also other problems to address, and BBC Sheffield were banned from Weir's opening press conference yesterday for having broken the story that he would be appointed. The sense is of a club still struggling against its fate, and Weir was clear on the reality of the situation he has encountered.

"We want to be at the top level, but we've got to be realistic," he said. "We've got to create something that's sustainable, something that's not two steps forward and three steps back. The foundations have to be in place to take us back [to the top flight] and keep us there. There's a plan to do that and they've give me their backing to do that.

"You've got to be under pressure to get success, but any pressure will be what I put on myself. That's my nature and my motivation, I don't need pressure from anybody else. I've prepared, I've been ready for a little while, and this is the right opportunity."

That preparation was refined at Everton, where Weir returned to a coaching role after retiring from the game once he left Rangers in January last year. The club has a reputation for developing first-class coaches – Alan Stubbs and Phil Neville were also internal candidates to replace Moyes – and that commitment to coaching development was established by Moyes and his former assistant, Alan Irvine, who had spells in charge of Preston and Sheffield Wednesday before returning to Goodison Park as academy director. Irvine has offered himself as a sounding board for Weir, who will also be able to call upon the support and advice of Moyes, even though the Scot has taken on the task of trying to replace Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United.

"It's a fantastic opportunity for him, but it's also a very tough job," said Irvine. "Being somewhere in the middle of the league won't be acceptable, they will expect to be competing for automatic promotion. The people in the area are passionate about their football, they have an opinion about it. There will be a lot of demands, but he couldn't possibly turn it down because it's a great opportunity.

"He's intelligent, he is articulate, he's got a presence about him, but he's not loud or anything like that. He's got a good personality and he's obviously a thinker. He's got a passion for this and he'll no doubt work very hard. David Weir is the type who's been preparing himself for this for some time."

Weir's managerial career is likely to begin in Scotland, with United already having a pre-season plan in place that starts with games against Morton, Cowdenbeath and Raith Rovers early in July.

He is among the next generation of young Scottish managers attempting to make their way in the game, and his first job is a testing one. He will be ready for all of the difficulties it presents, though.

"You've got to shoot for the stars, which is the plan, but we've also got to be realistic," he said.

"We've got to look from this point to a point in the future and see how we're going to get there. We don't want to get there as quickly as we can and then fall back again; we've got to stay there."