Newcastle United have won countless hearts and minds with a thrilling brand of football since being guided to the English premier league by Kevin Keegan a decade ago.

However, one harsh, inescapable fact continues to gnaw away at everyone connected with St James' Park -- the club are still seeking their first major English trophy in almost 50 years.

Since lifting the FA Cup in 1955, the Tyneside club have had several near misses, notably when Manchester United dramatically beat Keegan's side to the 1996 league title.

Two FA Cup final defeats followed in 1998 and 1999 before things took a turn for the worse and the growing spectre of relegation prompted manager Ruud Gullit's resignation and Bobby Robson's arrival in September 1999.

The former England boss has turned around Newcastle's fortunes in dramatic fashion, guiding the Magpies back towards the premier league summit and expectations are sky high again.

The 70-year-old Robson remains desperate to bring a trophy to Tyneside before he eventually retires.

The nine million pound ($14.47 million) signing of central defender Jonathan Woodgate in January underlined Robson's ambitions, but a 6-2 home defeat by Manchester United ruined their title chances.

"We finished third and fourth in the last two seasons and last year reached the Champions League second phase," said Robson. "We aim to improve on that and we are very, very capable of doing so."

His first priority will be the Champions League qualifier against Partizan Belgrade that kicks off on Wednesday.

EMPTY CABINET

Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd is also keen to see a tangible return on his sizeable investment in the club.

"No ambitious club is ever content to settle for what it has done in the past," says Shepherd. "And, of course, the fact remains that we have, for all our progress, not yet put any silverware in the St James' Park trophy cabinet.

"Whether or not we are celebrating a trophy come next May, we are again in a strong position to challenge for honours.

"We have got to win something and once we do that then I think the door will open fully. Once you win one trophy, more will follow."

So far the only new arrival during the close season has been midfielder Lee Bowyer who joined on a free transfer.

"I've come here to win things and believe we can win things," Bowyer said. "This is a great team and everybody knows Newcastle are now pushing for honours. The prospect of achievement is the big thing that attracted me."

Former England skipper Alan Shearer will be keener than most to bring some silverware to his hometown club. He will turn 33 on August 13 and knows his glittering career as the premier league's most prolific striker cannot go on forever.

"This is the best squad we have had in my eight years here and, as I say at the start of every season, it is about time that Newcastle won some silverware," Shearer said.

Breaking Arsenal and Manchester United's premier league stranglehold will almost certainly be beyond a youthful but defensively flawed Newcastle.

But as midfielder Kieron Dyer freely admits, they would gladly take success in the much-maligned League Cup if it means ending their lengthy domestic trophy drought.