'He was incredible, I loved watching him': Kal Naismith's surprise choice as Portsmouth's 'best' player under Paul Cook

Yet the star turn made just 26 appearances for the Blues and left long before League Two title glory.

Adam Barton was the fifth signing of the Cook era, arriving in June 2015 on a free transfer from Coventry.

The midfielder-cum-central defender lasted just 14 months on the south coast before sold to Partick Thistle for an undisclosed fee.

Nowadays Barton represents Curzon Ashton, yet Naismith admits during their time at Pompey he was in awe of the ex-Republic of Ireland’s prodigious talents.

Naismith told The News: ‘It never happened for Adam Barton at Pompey, but in training he was the best player in that session every single time. He was incredible.

‘He was laid-back, it was like he didn’t really care, but would run training sessions at walking pace, no-one could get near him.

‘When I first saw him at Pompey I thought “When he gets in and gets a chance he’s going to go bang”.

‘As a centre-half he played everything at his own pace, saw everything, and could do plenty with the ball. I loved watching him.

‘If I wasn’t playing, the first name I’d look for on the team-sheet was Barts. I’d watch him for the full game, the way he moved, the way he passed. He was incredible.

‘Yet football was not everything to him, he was a cool character who played the guitar and very settled in his normal life.

‘He was never into the football lifestyle, he’d just train and go home to his family.’

Another player who shone during Naismith’s first season at Fratton Park did go on to better things, however.

Adam Webster made 35 appearances and scored twice in the 2015-16 campaign, before departing for Ipswich that summer in a player plus cash deal involving Matt Clarke.

Now he’s at Brighton, having amassed more than 100 Premier League outings and often talked about as England material.

Naismith added: ‘When I first arrived, Adam Webster didn’t play in the opening 12 league games.

MORE: Pompey's so special to me, I'll be back one day: Kal Naismith on Blues love affair, becoming a centre-half and no Luton regrets

‘Yet he was that good in training, all the players would go up to him and say “You need to ask the manager how you’re not playing”. He wouldn’t, though, he was a shy lad back then.

‘Nonetheless, for the life of us we couldn’t understand how this guy wasn’t playing in the team, he was incredible, passing it left foot, right foot, and he could defend.

‘Watching Webby in training, he was levels above, serious levels above. You get players who look good in 2-3 training sessions – then you get players who, every day, are a level above anyone else.

‘That was Webby.’