SCOTT who? As distracting and draining as the whole Scott Allan transfer affair was for Rangers fans, this group of players were trucking along perfectly nicely without him beforehand and have every chance of continuing to do likewise. While the supporters may have talked themselves into it all, for the players and management it is hard to miss a player that you never had.

While the whole thing must feel like a colossal waste of time and energy, this new Rangers era will be shaped not by Allan, but those who, boyhood heroes of the club or not, have actually chosen to throw in their lot with Mark Warburton and Davie Weir. The shredding they handed out to their supposed bogey side Alloa Athletic on the artificial surface at the Indodrill Stadium yesterday was an indication that there will be plenty of life without him. This win moves them joint top with surprise early season Championship leaders Queen of the South and Dumbarton and should they take care of an Allan-less Hibs in seven days’ time they could take some catching.

Rangers had been stung by these particular wasps too many times. The Clackmannanshire outfit utterly tormented them last season, drawing three times and clawing their way back from two goals down here to eliminate them from the Petrofac Cup final at the semi-final stage.

While Danny Lennon has replaced Barry Smith in the Alloa hotseat since then, from a Rangers perspective, this one was long overdue, and the focus they placed on the game evident by the fact they booked some additional practice time at this venue last week. Although one of last season’s nemeses, Michael Chopra, briefly threatened further drama with an outstanding volley which gave the hosts parity on the scoreboard again at 1-1, Rangers look a different proposition entirely Warburton. They had scored four and rattled the woodwork twice by the time half time arrived.

On a pleasant day in the shadow of the Ochil hills, travelling fans arrived to the news that Lee Wallace had been confirmed as Ibrox club captain, with Kenny Miller preferred to Tom Walsh for a role in the fluid front three which Warburton likes to play. While Andy Halliday, another boyhood Rangers fan and close friend of Allan’s who could now face him in the maelstrom of an Old Firm derby, anchored the midfield, star of the show on the day was James Tavernier, the 23-year-old Englishman who joined up this summer from Wigan Athletic.

In four games for his new club, Tavernier already has two goals from right back, and the one that arrived six minutes in to this one was a beauty. His power, pace, strength and skill saw him get on the end of some neat interplay between Miller and Nicky Law, and he finished high past Andy McNeil with aplomb.

Alloa’s fans have been so spoiled in their recent jousts with Rangers that what happened next seemed almost humdrum. Graeme Holmes cleverly popped a pass over the Ibrox central defence and Chopra beat the offside trap to execute to the kind of high, volleyed finish which wouldn’t have been out of place in the Barclays Premier League.

Rather than relive their Groundhog Day here, Rangers put themselves on easy street. They had their lead back within minutes, courtesy of a penalty from Martyn Waghorn, the former Leicester City striker sending McNeil the wrong way after Holmes having blotted his copybook with a needless lunge on new skipper Wallace. While Michael Duffy forced keeper Wes Foderingham into action with a free-kick and the giant, lumbering figure of Geoff Mitchell was an occasional threat, Rangers played with impressive poise and attacking ambition throughout, despite a surface which could have done with some early morning rain.

Waghorn clattered the underside of the bar after a sweeping Tavernier pass and a Miller lay-off, then Miller himself struck the post after good work from an inventive Barry McKay. But any respite for Alloa was only temporary – Jason Holt lashed in the rebound after McNeil could only parry out a right-foot effort from Wallace, then it was Miller’s turn to get a tap-in after another good cross from Tavernier was missed in the middle by Waghorn.

Despite outright Rangers dominance somehow there were no further additions to the scoreline until the last five minutes. There was, however, a first sighting of Nathan Oduwa, one half of an on-loan Tottenham duo, not to mention Nicky Clark and Dean Shiels, and on this evidence he appears to be a bag of tricks.

A baffling barrage of stepovers from the youngster led to the fifth goal of the game, Miller getting a final touch which Tavernier’s low shot didn’t even need. For the record, the goals moved the 35-year-old veteran on to five for the season, more than halfway to last season’s tally of nine. No wonder he celebrated the first of his double by touching the wood of the goalposts.

With Oduwa’s showboating playing to the galleries, there was still time for two late ‘goals’ to be deemed offside, one, dubiously, from Tavernier and one from Clark. So perhaps there is life after the grand illusion of the Allan affair after all. And, one other consequence of the transfer falling through, perhaps there is even a little bit of extra cash in the transfer kitty too.