I would suggest that there weren't that many Saints supporters that saw this one coming, although it is easy to get carried away, the fact is that this was perhaps the best all round performance by a Southampton team in around 4 years.
Although Tonda Eckert had won two games in a row since taking over, there were still many sceptics in the Saints support and some were worried that we might make him the permanent manager, however after Saturday's performance there will be a few changing their minds.
I have always said that this season's squad is one of the best in the division, that was the most frustrating part of Will Still's reign, he had the quality and quantity at his disposal, he just failed to utilise it with his chopping and changing.
Since his sacking Tonda Eckert has slowly but surely restored confidence & stability to the squad.
He has kept it simple, he has not chopped and changed, but made subtle changes when necessary and more to the point he has put square pegs in square holes.
This has culminated in this performance at the Valley, for the first 14 minutes we had 3 good chances and were on top, but then it all went mad with 4 goals in just 8 minutes.
Quite simply it was breath taking, we played fluid football which involved possession football, but not the Russell Martin way with endless passing it along the back, but little triangles with the 3rd pass moving it forward fast.
We quickly turned defence into attack and blitzed Charlton out of sight, when we added a 5th just before half time we looked to have the game won, but then came the only downside of the day when we conceded on the stroke of half time.
This perhaps the crucial moment for me, how would the manager react to this, the home side would surely come out in the second half and have a go, perhaps look to claw back a goal or two and make it a hard time for us.
The answer was that Eckert kept his side focused on the task ahead , it was all about making sure that the game was won and not throwing a lifeline to Charlton and let them get back in the game, the strategy was not to concede a 2nd goal chasing a 6th up the other end.
So although the first half was almost perfect in so many ways, so was the second, we kept our heads, kept our shape and made sure the game stayed won.
It was an all round team performance , but there were some truly scintillating displays, Adam Armstrong was my man of the match, 2 goals and 2 assists were the icing on the cake, but his all round play was superb, Leo Scienza, Tom Fellows & Finn Azaz were all close behind him, they showed what they can do now they are being played in their right positions, there pace and all round game was just a pleasure to watch.
But the rest of the team all played their part, Taylor Harwood-Bellis looked back to his best, Jack Stephens held the back line well and Nathan Wood added a bit of industrial strength.
A shout out to Ryan Manning, he scored the opener with a header and was strong in getting back and added an over lapping presence on the left, much maligned by some fans in the past, he looked the part at the Valley.
In the centre Caspar Jander had a great run on goal after an exquisite passing movement from the back and he finished with aplomb, Cameron Bragg slotted in next to him and he too played a big part in the victory.
When we made subs it showed the quality we have in reserve, clearly Eckert with the game won, did not wish to risk picking up injuries with a game on Tuesday night, so off went Scienza & Azaz on came Jay Robinson & Joe Aribo, as the game moved forward, off went Adam Armstrong & Bragg to be replaced by Damion Downs & Flynn Downes.
With the final substitution Ronnie Edwards it highlighted the quality we have, not many teams in this division can bring on so many players of this quality and we still had Ryan Fraser, Quarshie & Welington that could have come on add the injured such as Ross Stewart, Elias Jelert, Mads Roerslev, Shea Charles & Cameron Archer to come back into the squad.
The 3,000 travelling Saints supporters were once again in fine voice, not just in roaring on their team and celebrating, but in the way they reminded our former manager in the home dugout just why he lasted so short a period, if Saints could have scored a 6th, that would have been exactly the same number of goals that Nathan Jones's teams scored in the 8 League games he presided over
So the big question is what happens next, can Tonda Eckert win a 4th game in a row, if he does then I would not be surprised to see him get the job, although I suspect that the board might wait to see what happens at Millwall.
From a League table perspective, this didn't do much for us in terms of position, we moved up just one place to 16th, but a closer look at the table shows that we are now within sight of the top 6, just 4 points separate us from Hull in 6th place and just 5 points from Bristol City & Preston in 4th & 5th respectively.
We now have some momentum and we need to keep it going, beat Leicester who sit 10th and we go above them on goal difference or even goals scored, some might scoff and say we only beat Charlton, so don't get carried away, but it should be noted that if Charlton had beaten us they would have been 6th today.
So whatever does happen we can thank Tonda Eckert for what he has done in the last 3 matches, he has taken a squad in complete disarray and turned it round and put us back in the chasing pack for a top 6 place.
More of the same on Tuesday against Leicester would be nice !