It is a time of year when genies work their magic and can English football ever have produced a man who rubbed his footballing lamp to better effect than Charlton manager Alan Curbishley.

In a decade Curbishley has spent just £18million assembling the Charlton team which today surged towards a European place by demolishing high-flying Chelsea.

Quite what Chelsea billionaire Roman Abramovich must have been thinking up in the stands as he contemplated his £111million outlay is anyone's guess.

Headed goals from Hermann Hreidarsson, Matt Holland, Jonatan Johansson and Jason Euell were the vital statistics behind Charlton's first victory on Boxing Day in the Premiership.

And while John Terry and Eidur Gudjohnsen replied for Chelsea it has to be said that Charlton deserved their victory in front of their highest crowd for 11 years at The Valley - 26,768.

Chelsea's boss Claudio Ranieri had apparently insisted that English only be spoken in his dressing-room in an attempt to foster more unity among his huge squad.

He must be wondering tonight whether his players have been studying from the same phrase book after a display which proved his side have still much to learn in their quest to challenge Arsenal and Manchester United at the top of the table.

Curbishley meanwhile just continues to weave his magic spending only as much in the last 10 years as Chelsea have done on Damien Duff.

It is that type of good housekeeping and shrewd management which has seen Curbishley linked with the job at Tottenham even though he insists no-one at White Hart Lane has spoken to him about the post.

``I am happy at Charlton,'' said Curbishley, who added that feeling would remain so long as the little East London club retained its ambition.

Taking Charlton to the next level and into Europe for the first time might require more serious money than Curbishley has so far been allowed - but today you would never have known it.

They got off to the best possible start when they took the lead after just 42-seconds and it came via a swinging corner from the right from Paolo Di Canio.

John Terry, the defender likely to fill the suspended Rio Ferdinand's boots for England at Euro 2004, failed to clear the swinging cross and Hreidarsson rose to head the ball powerfully past Chelsea's goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini.

Chelsea were level eight minutes later when Terry made up for his earlier error.

It was the simplest of goals, Adrian Mutu's free-kick on the left swirled into the penalty box where it was met by a glancing header from Terry to leave Charlton goalkeeper Dean Kiely with no chance.

The goal brought a trademark grin to the face of Abramovich in the stand, though his team even then were looking anything but the most expensively assembled side in the Premiership.

Charlton were more cohesive, had more attacking ideas and their extra endeavour paid off in the 34th minute when Johansson once more surged up the left.

He promptly swung over a teasing left foot cross and this time it was skipper Matt Holland who arrived bang on cue to direct his header home - a suspicion of off-side perhaps but much too marginal to be certain.

Ranieri threw on Eidur Gudjohnsen for the disappointing Gronkjaer at half-time but Chelsea were once more stung by a lightning Charlton raid.

The half was only two minutes old when Di Canio weaved his magic down the left-hand flank, twisting and turning past the unfortunate Terry before supplying a pin-point cross which Johansson turned in at the far post.

By now, Charlton were giving their illustrious neighbours a lesson and in the 53rd minute they went even further ahead when Jason Euell latched on to a defensive lapse from Wayne Bridge to slide the ball past Cudicini to give a Charlton a 4-1 lead.

It was no more than they deserved.

True, Chelsea did get one back when Gudjohnsen picked up a loose ball in the penalty area and fired home.

And, while Chelsea launched a stirring rally in which Gudjohnsen went close and Terry had a goal disallowed for a foul, they never looked like salvaging the point.

It leaves Ranieri wondering quite how near he is to discovering the perfect blend for his admittedly brilliant individual talents in a side which is struggling to prove the equal of Manchester United and Arsenal.

For all Chelsea's attacking flair, they still require more solidity at the back where Terry had one of his more ineffective games, the timing of which could not have been worse, considering England's assistant coach Tord Grip was sitting in the stands.

For Charlton, however, there is the possibility at the season's halfway stage of a European place, though Curbishley refuses to acknowledge it, considering Newcastle and Liverpool likely to come good in the second half of the season.

Before then Charlton visit Tottenham on Sunday and the rumour mill is bound to be alive with talk of Curbishley journeying across town permanently to White Hart Lane. The genie of the Valley is in demand.

And no manager in football deserves the limelight more.

Teams:

Charlton Kiely, Kishishev, Perry, Fortune, Hreidarsson, Holland, Parker, Euell, Stuart (Konchesky 77), Di Canio (Powell 87), Johansson.

Subs Not Used: Royce, Fish, Campbell-Ryce.

Booked: Parker.

Goals: Hreidarsson 1, Holland 35, Johansson 48, Euell 53.

Chelsea Cudicini, Johnson, Terry, Desailly, Bridge, Gronkjaer (Gudjohnsen 45), Lampard (Geremi 65), Makelele, Cole (Gallas 82), Hasselbaink, Mutu.

Subs Not Used: Sullivan, Melchiot.

Booked: Gronkjaer.

Goals: Terry 10, Gudjohnsen 73.

Att: 26,768

Ref: G Poll (Hertfordshire).