WANTAWAY stars, they have been legion. The first I saw was a prolific one-season wonder called Andy Crawford who came from Derby County in October 1979.

By the end of the season he had notched 23 goals, which did much to win Rovers promotion and won many admirers.

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Sadly they did not include many of his team-mates, whom he wrongly considered bit-part players in his lust for glory.

Almost immediately he publicly decided he was too good for Blackburn and demanded a transfer.

When no club came in for him - and Simon Garner and Kevin Stonehouse took as firm a control of the goalscoring - he went on strike, an act that was popular in the 80s, if perhaps usually more worthy of the gesture.

After a fruitless year in the reserves he signed for Bournemouth, 40-odd positions below Rovers, for a princely £35,000.

Since then a host of attacking players have arrived at Ewood, lacking form, discipline or direction.

Once rehabilitated they almost all, to a man, rediscover their mojo and instruct their advisers to find a ‘bigger’ club. And then...?

David Bentley and Roque Santa Cruz went to ‘bigger’ clubs, and then came back on loan, with heads hung low - which didn’t help when passes came their way.

They contributed no goals, nor a performance worthy of their puffed-up reputation, and promptly disappeared again.

Junior Hoilett is possibly still mazily dribbling his way towards Freedonia as we speak.

Damien Duff maintained his form for a while, even flamboyantly kissing his Chelsea badge as he tapped in the fourth goal in Rovers 4-0 mauling at Stamford Bridge in 2004, but never hit the heights he had at Ewood.

Craig Bellamy, to his credit, only came with rehabilitation in mind and enjoyed a great season before leaving.

Yakubu correctly declined to be the Akinfenwa of the Championship and ventured overseas.

The disappearance of Chris Sutton after he had pledged to stay even if Rovers were relegated - “I didn’t think we would actually go down” was his shrugging explanation - was leavened by the £10m fee and his one goal in 28 games for Chelsea.

This brings me to my point.

The majority of these sales have brought Rovers a bloated fee in relation to the glow the ‘star’ shone once sold.

Some partnerships, like De Niro with Scorcese, Mick Jagger with The Rolling Stones or rhubarb with custard, only truly amaze when combined.

So, Monsieur Gestede, are you in the “right frame of mind” for a relegation battle?

Didn’t your absence on Saturday establish that you lack the heart for an uphill climb?

The grass isn’t always greener on a higher plain.

Sometimes that path is a shortcut to obscurity or perdition.

Certainly you have further to fall. And all evidence leads to you leaving and then returning in 2017, hat covering your shame, to revamp your ailing career.

Rudy CAN fail and history points to it being probable.