THERE was more than a hint of irony about the appearance of a striker that once cost Newcastle United £15m discussing the prospects of his beloved hometown club's failure to find a new No 9.

Alan Shearer was back on Tyneside at Greens Health & Fitness yesterday to promote next month's charity match that will see a Magpies XI managed by Kevin Keegan take on a Liverpool team made up of ex-players led by Roy Evans.

He reminisced about the months he spent playing under Keegan and the years that followed, when Newcastle's previous owners thought nothing of breaking the bank to bring in a long line of top, international players.

Times, however, have changed. Under the ownership of Mike Ashley there has been a conscious drive by the sportswear tycoon to make the club more self-sufficient after initially investing more than £200m in buying out Freddy Shepherd.

And after the big money sales of Andy Carroll, Kevin Nolan and Jose Enrique this year, there was a huge sense of disappointment around St James' Park when Ashley failed to bring in a new striker before the transfer window closed on Wednesday night.

Shearer, a born and bred Geordie, shared the frustration felt among the supporters. He is optimistic about Newcastle's chances of survival this season, but also hinted his concerns that a failure to bring in a top marksman could return to haunt Newcastle.

"It didn't surprise me," said Shearer. "When you look at it, what's going on and how they're operating the club now, that's up to them and certainly I'm not going to sit here and say that's not right.

"They want to establish themselves in the Premier League without spending ridiculous money. They're running the club that way and everyone has to respect that.

"It might be a while before you see a £20m-25m player at Newcastle again. Whether you agree with that or not, that's the fact. I can understand the frustrations.

"People were maybe looking for a marquee signing because of Andy Carroll leaving, but in fairness to the other guys they've started the season well."

Newcastle's failure to bring in the strikers they have targeted over the last few months means there is greater pressure on those already at manager Alan Pardew's disposal to score goals.

That means Demba Ba, a free transfer from West Ham, needs to come good and convince Pardew he deserves to start ahead of Leon Best and Peter Lovenkrands, two players Newcastle tried to sell during the summer.

But with the Ameobi brothers, Shola and Sammy, also in the squad, Shearer thinks Newcastle should still have enough to keep them clear of danger until January, when Pardew could try again to bring in a new forward.

"Alan Pardew's done a very good job up to now under difficult circumstances when he came in," said Shearer. "I'm sure he hopes and I hope that continues. Fingers crossed it does.

"When you compare Newcastle to other clubs I think Newcastle will be alright. They're not going to get into the top six but it's anyone's guess below that, there's nothing between seventh and bottom. The difference is maybe getting a goalscorer who is going to score 22-23 goals a season. That might get you into seventh or eighth."

When Shearer was signed by Keegan from Blackburn in 1996 for a record breaking fee, Newcastle had high hopes of winning the Premier League and many of the years that followed were spent competing in the Champions League.

Such heights seem a long way off, with the age of billionaire foreign ownership changing the financial landscape of the richest league in the world.

"It will be very, very difficult when you look at the finances, £115m, spent at Liverpool to get back into the top four," he said. "You look at Man City who have got into the top four and won the FA Cup, they have spent a hell of a lot more than that. Manchester United will always be there and Chelsea.

"There might be three leagues in the Premier League now rather than four. There are the four who can win it - Man U, Man C, Chelsea and Liverpool, fifth and sixth is between Spurs and Arsenal, I'm not sure in which order. Then there's not that much between bottom and seventh, so it's tough with the finances to get into the top four."

* Kevin Keegan's Entertainers from the '92 to '97 are to return to play Roy Evans' Liverpool FC old boys at Newcastle Falcons' Kingston Park on Sunday, October 9 at 1.30pm.

A team boasting the likes of Les Ferdinand, Rob Lee, Pavel Srnicek and Faustino Asprilla are ready to do battle with a Roy Evans and Phil Thompson XI.

Alan Shearer has also agreed to pull on his infamous No 9 shirt one last time and play in this historic charity match, which will benefit five North-East charities.

The Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, NSPCC, The Alan Shearer Centre, CHUF and Pathways 4 All will all benefit from the event being organised by Players Inc and Pzazz Events.