April 19, 2019 may not be a memorable date in Bristol City history - a Josh Brownhill equaliser securing a limp point at home to Reading on Good Friday as their play-off run petered out - but three years on, it could prove to be a moment of glorious serendipity for the Robins.
As Brownhill was connecting with a Niclas Eliasson cross against the Royals, Kal Naismith was putting on a defensive clinic for 10-man Wigan Athletic at Elland Road as they recovered from a 1-0 deficit to beat Marcelo Bielsa’s team 2-1.
What was particularly pertinent about the result, beyond sending Leeds into a late season spiral as they missed out on automatic promotion, was it was the first game Naismith had ever played as a centre-half. Drafted into the back three following Cedric Kipre’s red card by then-manager Paul Cook, it was an epiphanic moment for the Scot.
Having spent the majority of his career as a winger or a forward, occasionally filling in at left-back where he had started in the Rangers academy as a teenager, it served as an awakening for him that maybe, just maybe, he had found a new position.
Three years on and after an outstanding season for Luton Town, Naismith is now a Bristol City player with Nigel Pearson declaring his arrival as being vitally important in addressing and rectifying the Robins’ drastic defensive flaws of last season.
The fact so much emphasis has been placed on a player who’s only been a full-time defender for two years could be seen as a slight gamble but, equally, showcases just how accomplished he is in the position and the qualities he brings.
“It looks, from the outside, a bit strange but it’s easy for me to piece it together,” Naismith said. “I was always a winger but it pains me so badly to lose games in training. In small-sided games, they’re always really high-scoring because the pitch is so small - 4, 5, 6 goals and it always used to get really frustrated at conceding goals, even as a winger, so I’d drop all the way back into defence.
“I’d done that throughout my career and then at Leeds away, I started left-midfield and 1-0 down and down to 10 men, the manager pushed me into the left of a back three and I thought, ‘Jesus, down to 10 men at Leeds, this could be trouble for me here,’ but I ended up having a really good game and we ended up winning 2-1.
“I really felt comfortable and it just planted a seed in my head that I think I’ve got all the attributes to play there and progress to maybe a higher level than I could have done playing on the wing, and I kind of made that decision about two months after.
“I went to my coach at Wigan at the time - Anthony Barry, who’s now at Chelsea - and said, ‘Baz, I think I see myself playing at centre-half, do you guys ever speak about it?’ He said, ‘to be honest we don’t but I’ll put it to the manager’. An opportunity came up to play there and I never looked back.”
Of course, while he was trialled there for Wigan, it wasn’t until he moved to Luton in January 2021, where he could consider himself a bona fide Championship-level centre-back. Entrusted by Nathan Jones - a manager he repeatedly brands “amazing” - Naismith specialised as a left-sided defender in his trademark back three, most notably in the Hatters run into the play-offs last season as the 30-year-old claimed their Player of the Year award.
Having announced himself to the division, although settled and happy as a Hatter, with his contract expiring, Naismith was a player in demand and seizing their opportunity, City made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.
His departure was a difficult one for all concerned at Kenilworth Road; Luton issuing two separate statements alleging City sprang a surprise announcement, which left their fanbase subsequently seething with resentment.
It’s added spice to the two games to be played this season, with the first at Ashton Gate on August 16, but the only emotion Naismith feels is gratitude towards Jones, his staff and Luton, as he explains his decision-making following an intense 10-day period once the season had finished.
“It was tough,” he admits. “Luton were unbelievable for my career, the manager was absolutely brilliant, he was amazing - I can’t thank that club enough. Honestly, I will always love everyone at that club.
“But it was just a decision where I spoke to my family: let’s leave it to the end of the season so I can really focus on my football and that’s what I did. I wasn’t swayed by anything, I really knuckled down to try and get Luton into the play-offs and then hopefully the play-offs but we fell short.
“Then I sat down with my family over 10 days, and there was a lot of deliberating, it was tough. But after speaking to the manager, and when you see the club, the facilities and what the club can be, it was just a massive draw for me and the right next step for my career.
“Luton are an amazing club and they’ll do amazing things this year, with the players they’ve got there and the manager and it will be a challenge trying to get up there with this club.
“Nathan Jones is an incredible manager, he’s going to manage at the highest level - I have absolutely no doubt about that; how hard he works, how much he goes into detail, the coaching staff he has - Chris Cohen is an exceptional young coach, Mick Harford, I can’t speak highly enough about. I just felt it was the right progression for me.”
As well as his defensive smarts, it was interesting to hear Pearson hail Naimsith’s communication skills as being a notable attribute that can enhance the Robins. For several seasons now there has been a suspicion that while talented, too many individuals in the City defence have been too quiet or even passive, particularly at set-pieces, and all they’ve needed to unlock their skills has been an organiser. Step forward Naismith.
Not only that but his season at Luton has given him ample evidence as to what’s required to absolutely maximise resources at your disposal. The Hatters had one of the lowest wage bills in the Championship last season yet over-performed considerably to finish sixth, level on points with a Sheffield United team who had been relegated from the Premier League 12 months earlier and in receipt of parachute payments.
“There’s a lot of stuff the manager here will know more than me but, I just think, you need a really good work ethic, a really good team spirit and lads that demand (a lot from) each other and respect each other,” Naismith said. “How you speak to each other is important. You can’t be down each other’s throats or talk to each other in the wrong way.
“I already know we have a great group of human beings here. It’s got a really good feel and I say that when I speak to my family and my mates and they ask me, ‘how is it?’ I say it’s got a really good feel, lads who just seem like good people who want to work hard. And I know you think that it should be that in every changing room, but sometimes it’s not; sometimes it’s people who just come into work and can’t wait to go home.
“But here it’s definitely got a feel that the boys just love to be here and enjoy working hard.”
He readily accepts he’s not the finished article, though, and while Naismith should give plenty to City, there’s a lot that City and Pearson can give to him. He pinpoints two fundamental areas he wants to work on to make him an even better player.
“I feel I’m in a great place, I’ve really nailed down the centre-half position - I’m comfortable there,” he said. “(But) you can work on everything, I’m constantly wanting to improve, but the one I would pick out most is I would like to get more goals from set-pieces.
"I feel great aggressively defending my own box but, at the other end, just trying to get that timing in attack, I can definitely work on that. And 1v1 defending, because in this league you have to be sharp, and I want to take that to the next level. Just keep improving as much as I can.
“I’m always learning, I’ve not played centre-half for very long. For me to go and learn from him (Pearson), I’m looking forward to it. He’s had a few conversations with me and I’ve sat there, like a kid, listening and picking off things so that’s very exciting for me. I come into work every day, and I’m always tuning into what everyone is saying.
“You learn with who you play with: Big Timm, he’s been there and done it at levels I can only dream of and we’ve been getting on really well. Big Kalas, he’s not been training with us but I can’t wait for him to be back, a player I’ve been watching for years.”
Bristol is the latest stop on a well-travelled career that has taken in six permanent clubs, all in very different parts of the country - Glasgow, Accrington, Portsmouth, Wigan, Luton and now the West Country. He’s clearly someone with the character and temperament to settle wherever he lays his boots.
Naismith is away with the rest of the City squad in Austria but his routine so far has been very military: wake up, training ground, back to the hotel, meal, sleep - rinse and repeat. But he has afforded himself the odd walk out around the city centre and likes what he sees as he looks to lay down fresh roots in this part of the world.
“I’ll be honest, I’ve not seen much of it but what I have, I’ve been very impressed,” he said. “Living in the city centre in a hotel, to be honest, training has been tough and I’ve just been into training and then back to bed, training and then back to bed. But when I do walk about, it looks very on-the-go, which is what I like.
“It’s cool, people are flying about skateboards and scooters. I walked to the shops the other day and saw people playing volleyball and I don’t think I’ve seen that at any place I’ve lived, so it just seems like a cool city.”
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