'It was disgusting how Paul Cook treated me at Portsmouth, I will never forgive him': Ex-Aston Villa man Adam McGurk lifts lid on acrimonious Fratton exit under ex-Ipswich and Wigan boss

And he has branded Cook’s Pompey assistant Leam Richardson a ‘snake’ over his part in the Irishman’s acrimonious July 2016 exit.

McGurk netted six times in 36 appearances after arriving from Burton on a free transfer in June 2015.

However, he was transfer-listed at the end of the 2015-16 season – with 12 months of his two-year deal remaining.

The Northern Ireland under-21 international also found himself training with the youth team along with Kal Naismith and Matt Tubbs, with the trio instructed not to eat with the first-team and told to wash their own kit.

The former Villa man eventually departed for Cambridge United ahead of the 2016-17 League Two title campaign for an undisclosed fee.

Yet McGurk remains angry over Cook’s treatment, which he regards as the worst of his entire career.

The 33-year-old told The News: ‘I know it’s football and, as a manager, there are times you want people out, but it was disgusting how he treated me, Kal Naismith and Matt Tubbs.

‘There was no need whatsoever. None of us were being idiots in training, we weren’t kicking balls away, we were still getting our head downs and not causing an issue.

‘If he doesn't want you then that’s fair enough, if something suitable comes then I’ll go, I don’t want to be sitting on the bench. However, it was just the treatment and that snake behind him Leam Richardson as well.

‘I don’t have a bad thing to say about anyone unless they deserve it. Yet as soon as I went on the transfer list, Richardson wouldn’t even look me in the eye and say hello in the morning.

‘It’s all right being pally pally when things are good, but when times are tough the true colours come out and I haven’t got a good word to say about either of those two.

‘Don’t get me wrong, they are good managers who know what they are doing, but not good people.

‘At the end of the 2015-16 season, we had meetings and Cook said “Look, at the minute you aren’t going to be in my plans. See what’s out there and if you come back to pre-season then we’ll crack on”.

‘So my agent at the time was looking for something worth going to, only it’s hard to get something on Pompey’s level unless you are going up a division.

‘Then, on the first day of pre-season training, he told the three of us to go home. I had driven down from Birmingham the day before, Kal had come from Scotland.

‘We were told to come back in a week’s time to train with the youth team. There would be no contact with the first-team, not even eating with them, while we had to wash our own kit.

‘Fair play to Big Kev, he’s a legend, he told us to give him our kits and he’d wash them on the sly for us.

‘We would be in for double sessions every day with the kids and, when they had the day off on Wednesdays, we’d still be in, running, running, running. We had to eat with the kids after the first-team had left the canteen, it was pathetic.

‘It was the worst I’ve been treated in my career by a country mile, completely out of order and disrespectful. I will never forgive Paul Cook.’

McGurk and Naismith shared a house in Fareham at the time, with the demoralising process ensuring they supported each other on and off the pitch in bleak times.

To this day, the Irishman credits Naismith as one of his best friends and watches with admiration at a career which is continuing to flourish at promotion-hunting Luton, albeit as a central defender.

McGurk added: ‘Kal ended up back in Pompey’s first-team, was one of the players of the year, and Cookie signed him for Wigan later on. That’s how much of a crackpot Cook is!

‘I genuinely don’t know why he was like that with me. Someone must have been reporting back to him saying negative things about me, but anyone will tell you I’m no bad egg.

‘I would go out for drinks with Kyle Bennett, Enda Stevens, Gary Roberts and even Cookie would sometimes come out with us, although you shouldn't be going out with your players. It was barmy.’

MORE: Adam McGurk: I was tipped for big things, but injuries made me a rubbish Sunday League player who didn't want to play football

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