SIR Bobby Robson should know a thing or two about strikers. The Newcastle boss nurtured the development of Brazilian great Romario during his time at PSV Eindhoven, handled the enigmatic but exceptional Hristo Stoichkov at Barcelona, and changed the face of European football by shipping a youthful Ronaldo to the Nou Camp.

But, after parading Patrick Kluivert as the latest addition to the United ranks on Wednesday, Robson's judgment is about to face one of its sternest tests.

He has spent most of the week making all the right noises. Craig Bellamy is one of the "exciting young players" on which the future of the club will be founded, and Shola Ameobi "proved a lot of people wrong" with his improved form at the end of last season.

But make no mistake, when Newcastle kick off the new Premiership season at Middlesbrough on August 14, their first-choice strike pairing will be Kluivert and Alan Shearer.

The great unpredictable and the seemingly unshiftable, the success of Newcastle's entire season will be determined by whether or not their two golden boys can play side by side.

Robson is adamant that they can. "What two good, technical players can do together is unlimited," he said. "If they understand each other's play and dovetail nicely, then two great players can always play together."

A nice sentiment, but footballing history is littered with partnerships that were designed in heaven before disintegrating into hell.

The advancing years might have forced Shearer to tinker with his playing style but, first and foremost, the United skipper remains a goalscorer.

He is the man on the end of the hanging Laurent Robert cross, the striker stealing in as the keeper fails to hold the ball, and the predator pulling defenders here and there before stealing a yard of space in the box.

That side of Shearer's game demands selflessness but, throughout his career, he has been able to retain his ruthless streak in tandem with an equally self-centred frontman.

He scored 34 goals in partnership with Chris Sutton as Blackburn lifted the Premier League title, and shared 49 with Les Ferdinand, who was his favoured partner in a black and white shirt.

The very presence of Kluivert will help to open up gaps which did not exist last season, and the new arrival's goalscoring exploits should help to take some of the weight off Shearer's shoulders during his final season in the game.

In Bellamy's absence last season, there were times when the United skipper looked like the club's only chance of a goal. From now on, shutting down Shearer will no longer equate to shutting down Newcastle.

Kluivert will offer his own goalscoring threat and the Dutch international is a far more reliable marskman than Bellamy or Ameobi, both of whom are prone to rushes of blood in the opposition third.

But while he is a proven scorer - 89 goals in 181 games for Barcelona providing proof of that - he is a far more rounded player than most casual observers give him credit for.

Indeed, since scoring on his Ajax debut as a fresh-faced 18-year-old, Kluivert has tended to gravitate towards the hole between midfield and attack.

His best years at the Nou Camp came in that position, and leading Dutch sportswriter Mike Verwe is confident he can drop deeper to accommodate Shearer.

"I think they will have a marvellous relationship," said Verwe, who followed Kluivert's early years closely as chief football reporter for Dutch daily De Telegraaf.

"What a lot of people don't know is that, while Patrick scores a lot of goals, he also gets a lot of assists as well. People look at the number of goals he's scored and judge him on that. They tend to overlook the amount of goals that he creates for someone else.

"Almost all of his games for the Dutch national side have come as a second striker. But he's still scored 40 goals and set up plenty more."

The staggering success of Thierry Henry and Ruud van Nistelrooy means the Premiership is far from awash with prolific partnerships.

Newcastle will hoping that their new pairing bucks that trend.