NEWCASTLE skipper Alan Shearer has threatened to walk away from the club unless he is guaranteed a first-team place next season.

Shearer was part of the United side that opened their pre-season campaign with a 1-1 draw against a Thailand XI yesterday, before going on to lose the game 4-2 on penalties.

The former England international has already announced that he will hang up his boots next summer, by which time he could have scored the 28 goals needed to replace Jackie Milburn as Newcastle's all-time record scorer.

But, while Sir Bobby Robson continues to plan for the new campaign, Shearer has dropped the bombshell revelation that he could have played his final competitive game in a black and white shirt.

The 33-year-old is desperate to finish his illustrious career on a high but knows that will not happen if he is asked to spend large chunks of next season on the bench.

Robson is aware that he must start to plan for Shearer's retirement and, with at least one big-name striker likely to arrive on Tyneside this summer, United's skipper cannot expect to have things all his own way next season.

The likes of Patrick Kluivert or James Beattie will expect to be named in the starting line-up, while Craig Bellamy will also enter the equation once he has shaken off his latest knee problem.

With Shola Ameobi having recently signed a new five-year deal with the club, Robson may opt to rest his talismanic captain more than he did last season.

But Shearer has insisted that he will not be afraid to consider his options if that is the case.

"I don't want my last season to be an anti-climax," said Shearer, who has already dismissed big-money offers from Genoa and Qatar this summer. "I don't want that at all, to be honest.

"If the manager said to me I wasn't going to be a regular then I'd have to consider things.

"The only time I'd consider leaving here was if the manager told me before the season that I wasn't going to be a regular. I want to play football and that would be the only time I would consider leaving Newcastle.

"I want to play as much football as I can in my last season. I think there's a good year left in my legs. I was pleased with passing 20 goals again last season and I hope to do the same, if not better, this year."

Shearer could yet be joined by Kluivert on Tyneside after the Dutch international reiterated his desire to join the Magpies.

The 28-year-old, who has been released by Spanish giants Barcelona, is currently considering a 'take it or leave it' offer from Newcastle.

"Newcastle is absolutely his first choice from a career point of view," confirmed Kluivert's agent Paul Foortse. "Reports we have asked for £80,000 a week are absolutely not true. We haven't put a figure on wages - we haven't asked for anything."

Kluivert was earning around £90,000 a week at the Nou Camp, and United are understood to have offered him less than half that figure.

Any move for Beattie could depend on whether or not Southampton sign Egyptian international Mido at the start of next week.

Mido is due to meet Saints boss Paul Sturrock after turning down the chance of a move to Tyneside.

The Marseille striker held talks with Robson last month, in which he claims he was told that the Newcastle boss has already decided that Shearer and Bellamy will be his first-choice strike pairing.

"When I met with Sir Bobby Robson he was clear with me and told me that he wanted to prepare me for the 2005-06 season and this would be by playing me in only some of the games this season," said Mido.

"He said it frankly that he plans to start with Shearer and Bellamy this year while I mould into the team and the country."

Shearer was partnered by Michael Chopra in the first half of yesterday's game against a Thailand select XI, with Ameobi and Lewis Guy coming on after the interval, but none of the club's strikers were on target as United made a steady start to their pre-season campaign.

Robbie Elliott made a rare start in place of hamstring victim Olivier Bernard, but Newcastle's defence were on the back foot from the start and conceded a goal to Thailand striker Sarayoot Chaikamdee in the early stages.

Lee Bowyer levelled shortly after the hour mark, but joined former Leeds team-mate James Milner in missing from the spot as Newcastle suffered yet another shoot-out defeat.

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