ICAN understand Sven Goran Eriksson asking Alan Shearer to play for England again.

But there would have been an unsavoury stench surrounding any return to the national side for its greatest talent.

Even three years after he stunned England by announcing his international retirement, Shearer remains the best player in the Premiership and the best front player the country has ever seen.

One look at the comparative garbage from which Eriksson is forced to pick his front two tells you why he left the door ajar for Shearer this week.

Michael Owen is supreme when he is not having one of his long barren runs and then we have a glut of players well below international class.

At the elite level Emile Heskey's touch fails him, Alan Smith's temperament does the same, Robbie Fowler is still working his way back to what he used to be and Jermain Defoe, Francis Jeffers, Darius Vassell and Wayne Rooney are too inexperienced.

So that leaves Shearer the Great but, for me, he should never play for England again.

England needed him at the World Cup in 2002 when we had our best team since 1990 and half a chance of winning it if everything went our way.

Shearer was not there for us then due to personal reasons, which should be respected.

You cannot argue with him wanting to spend more time with his growing family and prolonging his career with his number one professional priority of Newcastle United.

But once he made his bed by turning his back on England he had to lie in it forever.

Returning for England because he felt the buzz again would send out the message that Alan Shearer can turn his back on England when he feels like it and play for them when he feels like it.

It would be tantamount to saying he is bigger than the England team and, for the dignity of the national side - which was severely dented when they appointed a foreign coach - that must not be allowed to happen.