Into the 5th Round, but still 25-1 for the Cup

For the first time in as long as I dare to remember, we find ourselves in the Fifth Round despite what sounded like a very humbling game against an impressive Yeovil side. It was nice to hear that the Charlton fans did what they do best, and showed knowledge and respect of clubs other than their own, staying behind to give a deserved ovation to their lower league opponents. I guess if there are two things to take away from the match: 1. we won (in previous seasons we'd be out or heading to the West Country) making it four wins in a row with eleven goals in the process; 2. we can genuinely (Monday's draw permitting) start thinking this just could be 1947 all over again. The bookies don't seem to rate our chances, or in Betfair's case, other punters as we are still 25-1 which sounds like great value though a dodgy draw on Monday could see that rapidly push out. With the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal and Man Utd all taking the Cup seriously and almost certain to qualify for Europe by other means, dare we say that we could be just three wins from Europe?? We can't continue to rely on highly fortunate draws and at some point are going to have to win a tie which we are not expected to. But the winning habit is hard to shake off, and eight wins from eleven matches suggests that we have momentum in both League and Cup.

On a different note, the transfer window closes imminently and unless Curbs and Richard Murray have another last minute surprise (or surprises) up their sleeves, it seems we will complete the season with the existing squad. We have been continually linked with Michael Dawson but it seems any hopes of signing Andy Reid are over (though frankly with Jerome Thomas' emergence this season, it is likely we cooled on him a long time ago). Less reputable websites have us linked with the likes of Louis Saha and Harry Kewell, but this is fanciful stuff. As I mentioned before, with Premiership football virtually assured for next year, the sensible thing to do would be to wait until the summer when some ambitious Coca-Cola league clubs will find they did not fulfil their goals, and once again have to balance the books. It is at this point that we might find Dawson, Darren Bent et al joining the club.