Tom Fellows was never one to be too distracted by the noise. Still only 20, he has his priorities in order while in a West Bromwich Albion shirt. Thankfully, that period of time looks set to be an extensive one after the homegrown winger signed a new contract in January, which will run at least until the summer of 2027.
Linked with other clubs - Everton and Leicester City were two such sides credited with an interest in Fellows, who Albion were vulnerable to losing for next to nothing previously because of his contract status - the club acted, recognising the increasing importance and value of Fellows to the first-team and to Carlos Corberan. After a period of negotiations, Albion and Fellows thankfully came to an agreement. That's all now been put to bed.
It's perhaps not too much of a surprise then that Fellows, who hails from south Birmingham, has moved to another level since his future was cemented; a player who the Albion fanbase have instantly taken to because of, aside from the obvious academy links, his excitingly direct style of play, his numbers since the turn of the year have been remarkable indeed. He's filled the void of Jeremy Sarmiento and then some.
"Sometimes you have that, but I know if it all goes to rubbish they will be saying bad things about me as well, so I've got to know those same people will be slagging you off if you do rubbish, I try to take it all as it comes," he says, when speaking of the praise he has received. "It is nice, all the support from fans, it's a really good feeling. My mum loves reading it all, she reads some comments people say, it's nice.
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"I always thought when I started that you know you've made it when you've got a chant, when I had a chant I thought 'I must be doing alright'. I've had quite a few new experiences this year, the biggest thing at my age was playing, I just want to get minutes week in week out, that's the only way you learn. Being around this club, the team, the strength in depth, the biggest thing for me is to keep going, the management and staff here will help me a lot."
Fellows maintained a razor sharp focus throughout contract talks, allowing his parents and representatives to take charge of those conversations while being informed throughout: "For me, however long I've got left on my contract it shouldn't really matter, whether six months or three years. I was never like 'we've got to get this sorted'. The biggest thing for me, my family and agent was that I focused on football and they'll focus on the other stuff.
"Obviously when they needed to tell me stuff they'd say, but I just had to keep my head down and focus on my football, if you start thinking about the other stuff it starts messing with you. I wasn't thinking about it a lot and then when it was done it was done. When you start looking at other stuff, overthinking or looking to different areas that's when your football gets neglected, at the stage I'm at I just need to keep giving it everything and keep getting better."
That behaviour and attitude is to be expected from Fellows, as anyone who has worked with him for any period of time at the club will tell you. In fact under 21s manager Richard Beale did, recently, in a conversation about the next cabs off the rank and the perfect example - on the pitch and off of it - that Fellows sets when going about his business in the first-team environment.
"There's no better professional than Tom," Beale says. "Ever since I've been at the football club, not only does he does his on-pitch work, he does the off-pitch work, like a true professional. He's the most humble player and all the young players should look to him for the way he conducts himself, the way he goes about his business.
"He doesn't get flash, doesn't start buying new cars, doesn't start with the washbag, all the trappings that are the pitfalls for young players. He still drives his little white Ford Fiesta, which is fantastic and long may that continue.because the important bit is what you produce out on the grass every single day in training and games.
"Sometimes young players get carried away, there's so many people around them, often not giving the best advice and it's really important you carry on listening to the right people, those you know. Tom is one of those players and if that doesn't inspire players then they are on the wrong track. He's refreshing, you can ask him to do anything. A couple of Albion fans have asked me for video messages, he just does it, 30 seconds and he's made their day.
"People like Tom, who adoring fans look up to, he knows they pay his wages and that's what the game's about. He wants to give, too many people in life are take take take, Tom wants to give back, he's from a really good family, grounding, they're the most important people to keep his feet on the ground and if we've helped along the way that's fantastic, he deserves everything coming to him."
He might be modest, but Fellows - like any professional footballer who has come through an academy in this country - has aspirations of running out in his side's colours on the grandest stage of all. While currently away with England under 20s, international recognition which is another seismic checkpoint in the youngster's burgeoning career, domestic responsibilities will soon return. There's the small matter of a play-off place to cement.
"You do sometimes think 'imagine playing wherever...Wembley' all that sort of stuff, but, look, we've done alright so far, we just need to keep doing what we're doing," Fellows continues. "The manager and staff here won't let us get complacent at all, we'll keep chipping away and hopefully we'll do well.
"The manager is a demanding coach, I think you need that. He gets everything out of you, for me he wants me to play to my strengths and show what I'm good at, which is obviously being direct. That's the biggest thing, he wants me to play my game, to be confident and keep being positive."
As mentioned, Fellows - who spent last season on loan at Crawley Town, which proved to be a learning curve of an experience indeed, and which has unquestionably stood him in good stead as he set about trying to catch Corberan's eye in pre-season last summer - is from Birmingham rather than the Black Country. That does mean that, inevitably, he'd have family members with associations to Albion's rivals!
That his first league appearance under Corberan came in October at Birmingham City, in the 3-1 defeat at St Andrew's on the night when John Swift hobbled off injured and Cedric Kipre was penalised for a challenge in the penalty area, was poignant indeed for the Fellows family. Tom's father is a Bluenose but was in the away end that night.
"You're bricking it a little bit, obviously I hadn't played any minutes [in the Championship this season until then] and the longer that goes on the harder it is sometimes," Fellows admitted. "You think 'can I play at this level?' blah blah.
"Then I came on and did alright, it was mental really. To be honest my dad's a big Bluenose, he was like 'play well but don't score!' He was in the West Brom end, which he wasn't too happy about. I wanted to do well, it was win-win for him, he was happy when I got back, it was a big game for me to realise I can play at the level."
What is clear is that Fellows has developed leaps and bounds even since that run-out, in which he caught the eye and proved to be a bright spark on a miserable evening. Going forwards, following in the footsteps of Dara O'Shea and Alex Palmer, Albion have another one of their own, a bona fide first-team regular, in Fellows who continues to impact while keeping his head down.
