Curb goes on hunger strike; Charlton 2 Tranmere 0.

ALAN CURBISHLEY knows that he will be handed the managerial equivalent of a loaded gun if his team get promotion to the Premiership - a big, fat cheque book.

The Charlton boss has made his reputation by being one of the shrewdest operators in football when it comes to cash.

And he will maintain his policy of bringing only "hungry players" to the Valley.

Having had so little of the most precious commodity of the modern game to work with, he is happy and proud of his achievements so far.

But should they get into the top flight, he has been promised the extra cash that generates to strengthen his squad.

That, in effect, will mean about pounds 8 million to spend on the kind of talent the club may need to stay in the Premiership.

And as any manager will tell you, while it is reassuring to have a few quid in the back pocket, you lose most of your nine lives the moment you have some money.

Big money signings are scrutinised and if they fail, it doesn't matter to them - they still get paid and there is always somebody willing to take them off your hands.

Bryan Robson discovered in the most publicly embarrassing way that a sackload of cash can be as much of a hindrance as a help. Having gained Boro promotion from the First Division in 1995 with a tough, workmanlike team, he went out and bought stars galore.

The result wasn't pretty - dressing-room morale plummeted, the foreign stars seemed to whine in the press on a daily basis, and the club was relegated a couple of seasons later in the most spectacular fashion imaginable.

Curbishley is adamant however, that this will not happen to Charlton should they gain the reward they richly deserve and take their seat next to the big boys in August.

"If we are to go up we would get a bigger amount of money to spend on players, but only the right kind of players," he said.

"There are no prima donnas here - I want only hungry players. And I would like the contracts to be such that they wouldn't want to leave if we went down.

"That's the way the Leicester policy is at present, that is what we'll be looking to implement.

"People think that we have spent no money on this team, but we've splashed out pounds 1.7 million - believe me, to us that is a lot of money.

"The top half of the First Division has probably been the strongest ever this season, purely on the size of the clubs in it, the amount of money spent.

"Having teams like Middlesbrough, Nottingham Forest and Sunderland has really helped us though, because nobody has really noticed us until recently.

"We have had the freedom to sneak up on the blindside. It's amazing that we already have the same number of points that saw Barnsley promoted last year, but we are not even in the automatic places.

"It is conceivable that a team can end up with 93 points and still not gain promotion - that will show you how strong this division is."

The win over Tranmere kept Charlton level on points with Middlesbrough and still in the hunt for that precious second spot, although a place in the play-offs is now more likely.

And if Clive Mendonca continues to show the sort of calm he displayed on Saturday, they could well join the two automatically promoted sides.

He knocked home a penalty in each half to give Charlton the points.

Tranmere manager John Aldridge will make his final appearance next weekend.

Aldo's remarkable playing career is finally over. At 39, he has finally grown weary after years of terrorising defenders.

He is to hang up his boots and concentrate solely on management. Thanks for the memories Aldo!