MATT Jansen was 45 minutes late for our meeting. In a season that has run like clockwork it was one of the few occasions when he has not been in the right place at the right time.
It is remarkable to think that last August he was a substitute for Carlisle against Southend, two teams that will start next season in the football basement.
The talent was obvious but there were doubts that he was ready to turn the potential into reality.
Those doubts seem laughable now.
He is the new hero of Selhurst Park, a knight in shining football boots who, if he ultimately couldn't save Crystal Palace from the drop, at least brightened their last few days in the Premiership.
His first three home games - an achievement in itself, he was not expecting to be a regular until next season - brought three "man of the match" awards.
"I'm all champagned out," he joked. "I didn't think I'd get into the first team. I was told I would but I always doubt things. I thought I would be sub for a few games and maybe next season be pushing for a regular place but I couldn't ask for things to have gone any better."
He was the inspiration behind Palace's first home win of the season, scoring the opening goal against Derby County, who included former teammate Rory Delap.
With fame has come the trappings of success, a new Z3 BMW is one of the more obvious signs that he is no longer a novice Second Division forward.
It was the new car - just two days old - that caused him to be late, or more accurately, a motorcyclist who ran into the side of it. Defenders dream off getting as close.
With all this new found attention many would have froze in the spotlight. Jansen revels in it.
"It was weird on my debut. I was not at all nervous. We were losing 2-0 and I was sub. I came on straight away in the second half. When I got the ball I just dribbled around and it worked. I got confidence from that. Against Liverpool I was nervous, at Newcastle I was not really that bad. It is weird, sometimes you are nervous sometimes you're not."
All this is a far cry from his first game for Carlisle last season. "I couldn't eat before that match," he said.
Walking around Selhurst Park, the 20-year-old is the main topic of conversation. Palace fans are simply grateful he chose them over Manchester United - how many youngsters can have faced a decision like that? - but already thoughts are turning to how long they can hold on to him.
Aston Villa, Newcastle and Liverpool have been linked with multi-million pound bids for a player with only a handful of Premiership games under his belt.
Palace chief scout John Griffin is convinced he will play for England within two years. Few are prepared to argue.
So, why a team threatened with relegation instead of a team, at the time, threatening to do a league and European cup double?
"I first came down with my agent Tony Woodcock and we stayed with Ron Noades [the Palace Chairman He showed us all the new facilities and let us stay in his house. It was just like a home and it felt the right place to go. Plus there was the chance of getting in the first team. I wanted to play first team football and I really think I have made the right choice. I got selected for the England Under 21s and the England B squad but if I was at Manchester United I don't know whether that would have happened because I would not have been playing."
Alex Ferguson has an unrivalled reputation for bringing on young talent yet there is simply not enough room for everyone to make it at Old Trafford, so despite a week spent training with the champions it was the London side who won the battle.
"I really played well when I was at Man United but I was looking at the reserves team and there was Phil Neville, Paul Scholes and Cruyff - it would have beaten a lot of Premiership sides. When I made the move I wanted to play first team football because I had been in the first team at Carlisle. It has paid off for me."
The only slight regret he has about Carlisle is the manner of his departure. It soon became obvious that the Cumbrians could not hold on to him for long, but as his transfer dragged on and deals seemingly came and went, Jansen found it hard to settle.
"The biggest pressure I felt was that people kept saying I was going one week and then it would fall through and I didn't know what was going on. Then it was 'Right, I'm going again' then suddenly I'm not. It felt like I was not a Carlisle player but I loved playing for Carlisle. I felt people were thinking 'Why doesn't he just go?'. But it was not down to Me.
Arguments have raged among Carlisle fans about whether the club were right to sell him, but to hold such a talent back - another former Brunton Babe Rory Delap was the same - would have been grossly unfair and sent out the wrong message to other young stars.
Whether they have been replaced adequately, surely a much more pertinent question, is another argument. He has taken to life at the Palace. The club has helped him find a flat and he is enjoying life in the capital, although the least said about a visit to the Blue Orchid club in Croydon the better. "It was a real eye-opener. We didn't stay very long," he said.
Things continue to move a breakneck speed, and not just because of his new car.
"I was thinking the other day when we played Newcastle, I was sub at Southend and now I've scored at St James' Park in the Premiership. It is amazing."
And with that he was off to see Tony Woodcock, probably to hear about the latest clubs interested in snatching him from Selhurst Park.
Next season could well be a exciting as this one for Mat Jansen.
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