SHEARER-MANIA hit Newcastle yesterday, in anticipation of the England striker's official entrance at St James's Park today.

The £15 million world record signing from Blackburn is expected to make his debut on Sunday in the Charity Shield against Manchester United at Wembley.

And supporters queued for three nights to snap up 5,000 extra Newcastle tickets, which went on sale yesterday morning.

The fans ranks rose from a couple of dozen on Friday to around 600 on Sunday night, camping out with sleeping bags and blankets.

Newcastle spokesman Graham Courtney said: "We have been staggered by the response, which is all to do with the arrival of Alan Shearer.

"The fans know it will be a slow process as they all have to register their names as it is an FA competition. But we know they will be patient."

The Newcastle-born striker has also left staff in the club shop spellbound after his sensational switch from Lancashire to Tyneside.

Such was the demand for the Shearer name on the number nine shirt they had to rush an order through to the suppliers after running out of the letters `E' and `H'.

When he makes his first appearance in Newcastle today, thousands of fans will welcome him with a giant banner depicting a United number nine shirt with the slogan "Top Dog".

Meanwhile, the former Blackburn striker's name could be hitting the pop charts. Shearers Back, penned by Geordie songwriter Ronnie Lambert, and Shearer, the work of 10cc star Graham Gouldman, are set to cash in on fan euphoria over the signing.

Shearer has been offered a £1 million incentive to stay loyal to Newcastle for the next five years.

The England striker will earn £23,943 basic pay a week at St James's Park, adding up to an annual salary of £1,245,036 on top of a signing-on fee of £2.5 million over five years.

According to the Sun, who claim to have seen details of the £15 million striker's contract, Shearer could also pocket bonuses which would take his earnings to £2 million a year or £33,333 per match - £6.17 for every second he is on the pitch.

Should he be sold on for more than the £15 million Newcastle paid for him, Shearer is entitled to 10 per cent of the profit.

Newcastle will also pick up the tab for Shearer's move to Tyneaide from his £450,000 mansion in Formby, Lancashire, offering him £10,000 to cover the cost of selling his house and removals.

They will also pay up to £1,000 a month for a temporary home for Shearer and his young family while he searches for a suitable new house or land to build it on.

And the icing on the cake is that Shearer will still draw a huge salary even if he is injured. If the player is sidelined, he will still get first team win and appearance payments for up to 20 matches.

Meanwhile, Shearer was again left on the bench as Newcastle were beaten in their third Far East tour match, losing 3-1 to J-League Gamba Osaka. Les Ferdinand scored for the Magpies in the last minute.

Top referee David Elleray yesterday warned FA Charity Shield rivals Manchester United and Newcastle that the kid-gloves would be off for their season's curtain-raiser.

FIFA official Elleray was in charge of Manchester United's game against Dutch champions Ajax in the Umbro Cup at Nottingham at the weekend and asked Alex Ferguson to substitute Roy Keane to save him being booked or sent off.

Ferguson, who had Eric Cantona sent off in a similar tournament against Rangers in Glasgow during the build-up to last season and subsequently lost the French star to a three-match suspension, gratefully complied after Keane had committed three dreadful tackles.

But Elleray said yesterday: "There will be no room for such discretion by Paul Durkin when he referees the Charity Shield match.

"That game is always the benchmark for referees going into the new season and they set their standard to what kind of action is taken there.

"It is a no-win situation for referees really. When Everton played Blackburn in the Charity Shield a year ago, the referee was criticised for being too lenient.

"The year before Philip Don booked seven or eight players when Blackburn played United "and was also under fire."

Elleray, the officially-appointed spokesman for the Premiership's list of elite referees, is adamant he took the right action in letting Keane off the hook at Nottingham.

In fact neither Elleray nor Peter Jones, who took charge of two games apiece in the four-match Umbro event, recorded a single caution.

Ferguson said: "We were grateful for the referee's common-sense approach. He gave us the option of taking Roy off because you don't want to see players booked in a pre-season tournament.

"Roy's had a problem this way before with a pre-season booking being counted towards a suspension."

But Elleray's peace-move is almost certain to lead to controversy when the season gets into full stride.

Arsenal's John Hartson and Celtic's Alan Stubbs were both booked in a friendly between the two clubs at Parkhead last Wednesday and are certain to be reported.

The bookings will count towards the total of 21 disciplinary points, which brings an automatic two-match ban.

Elleray argued: "I don't know what the bookings in Scotland were for. The yellow card may have been used when, perhaps, the players really deserved red.

"I was able to be flexible at Nottingham and it is always my aim to anticipate problems and stop them happening.

"Keane committed some reckless challenges but did not actually hurt anybody and being charitable I could have also put it down to a lack of timing at this stage of his preparation.

"They were not mandatory sending off or bookable offences, although I accept they might well have brought him a yellow card in a League match.

"I had a word with Alex Ferguson at half-time and told him it was maybe getting close to the time when Roy ought to be taken off before I had to level some punishment."

Ironically, Keane failed to last the distance again against Nottingham Forest, his former team, in the third-and-fourth place Umbro play-off match yesterday and could be out of the Charity Shield with a knee injury.

It is the latest blow for Ferguson who also saw new Norwegian defender Ronnie Johnsen suffer a knee injury.

Wales winger Ryan Giggs has yet to play a pre-season game because of a thigh injury, while Gary Pallister is ruled out of the Wembley game with hamstring trouble and Andy Cole will be sidelined for up to six weeks after catching pneumonia.

"It is a good thing we have a clear spell now until next Sunday," admitted Ferguson, who was cheered yesterday when £3.5 million Czech Republic signing Karel Poborsky reported for his first-day's training at Old Trafford after being awarded a British work-permit.

Dutchman Jordi Cruyff should have his international clearance through from Spain to complete a £1.5 million move from Barcelona today.

Ferguson might need both newcomers for the Charity Shield game, even though it was not his original intention to involve them so early.

He was hoping to keep them back for next Tuesday's final preseason test a return clash at home to Inter Milan, who thrashed United 3-0 at the San Siro last Wednesday.