DON’T you just hate it when there isn’t a single talking point from a football game.

I wouldn’t know, I work in Scotland, which means there are arguments, debates and whataboutery even if next to nothing happened.

As it goes, an awful lot happened at Ibrox in this rather odd association football match between Rangers and St Mirren.

The long and short of it is that Rangers won quite easily in the end; penalties aside, they were by far the better side.

However, St Mirren had a good first-half. There was enough on show to suggest that they might give themselves a chance of staying in the league.

Whether they will be good enough to take that chance, if it comes about, is up for debate.

Anyway, shall we begin at the small circle 12 yards from goal?

ANDREW DALLAS. DISCUSS.

The referee didn’t have a great day, let’s put it like that, although it was hardly all his fault.

The first penalty was a trip, the second was a case of Jermain Defoe expecting contact and hitting the deck – this is now a thing – but he didn’t claim for anything and the referee saw a foul that wasn’t there. A poor decision.

The third penalty, Greg Tansey’s handball, was actually given by the assistant. Unless I read it wrong, Dallas appeared to signal for a free-kick and then changed his mind on the advice of his colleague. If that’s the case, the ref was sold a pup.

Tansey was also outside the box. The ball did hit his hand but it was a harsh decision.

And then at the fourth, Tansey, poor bloke, brought down Daniel Candeias but the foul was a yard and more before the St Mirren penalty area.

It is the feeling of your humble correspondent that VAR is not a good thing – we would all still argue against the obvious – but that the assistants and fourth official need to chip in more.

Also, there is not a hollowed-out volcano in which can be found, sitting around a table made of Walter Smith’s discarded woollen waistcoats, the ‘establishment’ plotting about ways how to stop ten in a row.

This is Scottish football we are talking about. Drinking games in a brewery are beyond them.

But we need better communication during and after games. That, honestly, would help calm some of the tinfoil hat wearers.

In saying all that, this has been an especially bad season for our referees who give off the impression that they are beyond criticism. Let me tell you, they are not.

ORAN KEARNEY IS A CLASS ACT

Whether this former PE teacher is up to the job of managing St Mirren remains to be seem but he dealt with all this nonsense really well.

He made his point, stood up for the club and refused to publicly have a go at Dallas. Indeed, the referee came out of the post-match press conference pretty well.

Kearney was clever not to rant but to calmly and politely talk through the three penalties he felt, and most didn’t, should never have been given.

He never said that his team would have taken anything; rather that the third pen did knock the stuffing out of them.

RYAN KENT HAS COME TO THE PARTY

The winger’s talent has never been in question. His problem before was linking a few good games together.

Kent was superb on Saturday, From the whistle, he wanted to get on the ball, beat a man, create chances, all done with speed.

The young Englishman took his goal well, a lovely chipped finish, on a day when you wanted him to see even more of the ball because something interesting tended to happen.

Rangers are at their best when they get the ball out wide and with Kent in the mood he was against St Mirren, the team goes up a few levels.

THE NEXT TWO GAMES ARE HUGE FOR GERRARD

Should he lost to Aberdeen and then get knocked out of the Scottish Cup by Kilmarnock, this season takes a real turn for the worst.

However, should they win – and this is entirely plausible – then the supporters can begin to genuinely believe their team can win one trophy. And that is more than many of them would have thought back in August.

ALFREDO MORELOS IS GREAT BUT COULD DO WITH SOME GROWING UP.

The Colombian has a talent and is enjoying a fine season. But there are times you want to give him a telling off as you would a naughty child.

At the third penalty, Morelos tried to wrestle the ball from James Tavernier who had missed one and scored one. Tavernier is the Rangers captain!

On this occasion, Morelos was sent packing and with his lip almost tripping him up, watched in dismay as his team went 3-0 up. He didn’t celebrate. Instead, he trudged back to his own half like a dumped boyfriend.

He didn’t get to take the fourth either, Jermain Defoe did and scored, and at the final whistle the striker turned his back on everyone on the field and left without shaking a single hand.