IN the summer, it seemed hard to find a club who did not want to sign Kris Boyd. Blackburn Rovers considered it, but they must be relieved now that they looked elsewhere.

It was said that Rovers, Birmingham, Newcastle, Middlesbrough and Turkish duo Kayserispor and Trabzonspor were all chasing him on a Bosman free transfer from Rangers. There may have been others.

If that was surprising enough, fans everywhere were calling for their club to sign the 27-year-old.

Rovers discussed the possibility of swooping, putting him on a shortlist of three at one stage, but they thought better of it.

Six weeks into the new season and, after joining Championship side Middlesbrough, Boyd has been dropped from the Scotland squad after struggling for goals and form – even in the second tier. Boro fans, it seems, have been less than impressed.

Rovers were always going to be better off with Mame Biram Diouf and Benjani.

Neither are world beaters, nor possess the goalscoring record that attracted so many supporters to the idea of signing Boyd.

But they are Premier League quality, and that must always be the first criteria.

If some have been baffled by Boyd’s lack of success so far in England, they should not be.

He may well be the SPL’s all-time leading scorer, beating Henrik Larsson’s mark last season, but there were obvious signs that he struggled at a higher level.

Just like Jermaine Beckford at Everton, the glare of the Premier League would have been too much.

It is easy to feel sorry for Boyd at the moment. But that sympathy might have been less forth-coming had he been a Rovers player right now.