You have to hand it to Curbs

Whilst preparing to shelter from the blizzards that sweeped across the US North-East, I was warmed up enormously by the commentary from Goodison that sounded like a traditional gutsy Charlton away performance, and a world away from the capitulations to Bolton and Man City in the same part of the world. Sometimes in football (and elsewhere in life), you have to swallow your pride and admit you were wrong and certainly this fan (as can be seen from earlier posts) felt Curbs had perhaps become a little stale, rushed his summer signings etc.. Yet here we are again, with just 14 games to go (many of them which, on paper at least, seem emminently winnable) sitting in 7th place just 7 points away from a stuttering Everton side that we have taken six points from in three weeks.

What changed? The turning point would appear to be the Spurs game when we switched to playing just one up front, a formation which occasionally has made us look sterile going forward, but has certainly made us far harder to beat. However, individual performances over the past dozen games or so have clearly also played a part, not least those of Jerome Thomas who emerged from the shadows to become the maverick in the otherwise solid and conventional midfield five. El Karkouri's goals have obviously been a delight to watch and you have to admire his uncanny ability to get the fans onside by scoring all his goals at home. However, his defensive ability has been impressive too, and it is no coincidence that Jon Fortune has looked more assured with such a solid partner alongside him. Shaun Bartlett is plainly not a natural goalscorer, but he does his job well and whilst I sometimes cringe at Curbs' comments about his defensive abilities, his work-rate is not in question. There are other players too whose consistent performances risk us taking them for granted, particularly Luke Young, Herminator, Deano and Matt Holland. Even Kishishev, whose value-add to the side was never entirely clear to me previously, has suddenly morphed into an all-action defensive midfielder, picking up loose balls and passing intelligently. Of the new signings, Danny Murphy looks a different person from the sheepish player moping around the pitch earlier in the season. There remain improvements to come (we hope) from Rommedahl, Jeffers and Hughes but each has gone about their football with the right attitude (no Craig Bellamy antics here) and will hopefully prove to be successful signings.

Certain squad members risk becoming forgotten men.....Chris Perry (my player of the year in 03/04), Mark Fish (likely to leave in the summer?), Graham Stuart (wholehearted but not good enough any more), Jason Euell (not quite good enough up front, not quite good enough in midfield), Kevin Lisbie (injured admittedly, but someone who could play wide right in a midfield five)........oh, and of course that Danish keeper who's meant to be quite good.

With just a few days left in the transfer window, and with most clubs unable or unwilling to do much business, it seems unlikely that we will do anything major and frankly I believe this would be the right thing to do. Greater value will be found in the summer, and with the club virtually safe from relegation already (it seems we can say this earlier and earlier each season), the squad looks large enough to cope.

The sole question thus remains: how far can we go from here? No fans will be getting carried away with memories of previous soporific end-of-season run-ins. However, one also feels that this season represents a fantastic opportunity to potentially qualify for Europe, not least because Liverpool and Newcastle (generally considered the next best after the top three), have looked out-of-sorts all season. I expect Everton to come back to the pack within weeks and hence it's a question of how much belief Curbs can instil in the players that a) we deserve to be where we are, and b) we can push on further. The next four fixtures are huge - if we take just a couple of points, it could be 03/04 all over again. However, if we can avoid defeat at Newcastle and 'Boro, and perhaps pick up a win against either Spurs or Liverpool, then suddenly things could really open up (I've got butterflies in my stomach just thinking about it).