ALAN SHEARER has delivered a gloomy verdict on 10 years at Newcastle by declaring: "We've never been good enough!"

The Toon skipper is frustrated the Geordies have not won a trophy since he has been at the club — despite spending a staggering £188million on players.

Last week he equalled Jackie Milburn's club record of 200 goals, but Shearer insists he shares the responsibility for the club's lack of success.

He admitted: "I have been expecting silverware to arrive here for the last nine years.

"But we've never been good enough to deserve to win anything. It is as simple as that.

"There have always been better teams. We have had a go but when it matters most we have come up short. You can talk about luck but you can't dwell on it because it evens itself out over time.

"I thought last year was the closest we got to achieving something when we got to the UEFA Cup quarter-finals. I thought we had a chance to go on and win that trophy but we were ravaged by injuries and suspensions at the wrong time."

Those same problems have haunted Graeme Souness again this season, with the club's injury list being widely blamed for the club's patchy form this season.

But Shearer added: "The main reason is that again we have not been good enough and the injuries we have had have been enormous.

"We spent £10million on Albert Luque and he picks up a serious injury after only a few games. But we are improving all the time and the time to judge the manager is when everyone is fit.

"Everyone supports him and there isn't a problem. We know we have to aim high this season but whether we get there remains to be seen."

COMPLAINTS

Shearer finally equalled Milburn's club record when he netted the only goal of the game in last week's FA Cup win over Mansfield.

But Shearer does not think he could have done any more. He explained: "I have always done my best.

"I get paid to score goals and for most of the time I have done that so I don't expect any complaints."

Shearer will definitely be hanging up his boots at the end of the season.

He said: "This is my last season!" But in Michael Owen, the Toon already have a readymade replacement — or so they think.

There are rumours sweeping the north-east Owen will return to Liverpool in the summer. Though Shearer is hoping that does not happen, he insists you cannot rule anything out.

Shearer told FourFourTwo magazine: "There are no guarantees in football.

REBELS

"I don't know what clauses are in his contract because that's nothing to do with me. I hope he stays for the four years because it means we would have done well."

Whatever Geordie fans think about the abilities of Souness as a manager, everyone is agreed he has sorted out the dressing room.

Rebels such as Laurent Robert and Craig Bellamy have gone after clashing with Souness.

Shearer insists the dressing room is a happy place.

He added: "It's fine. Everyone gets on and there are no problems. The Lee Bowyer-Kieron Dyer thing was very strange.

"It surprised me because there had never been any problem between the two of them. It came out of the blue.

"Craig Bellamy is a very good player but he was sold for obvious reasons. You can't do what he did and expect to get away with it."

Shearer insisted he has no problem with Roman Abramovich's spending power at Chelsea and the success it has bought.

He said: "I'm not jealous of Chelsea. I would love it if money was no object at Newcastle. They've given Arsenal and Manchester United something to think about and that is good for the game."

Shearer insisted he wants to go into management.

He added: "I'd like to be a manager — but I don't know where or when."