We have been talking about referees since football began and we always will be.

VAR will eventually come into play and there will be other aspects that might alleviate some of the controversy within the game, but for me the most sensible thing to do amidst all of this chat is to let the referees have a voice.

Let them speak after games. Allow them to come out and explain their thinking and how they saw a particular incident or incidents. Sometimes when you hear another point of view you are a bit more willing to consider it another way.

Not that I want to sound holier than thou. I was fairly outspoken at times over referees in my own time and I know full well how frustrations can boil over. I did always felt that if I was critical it was with some justification but perhaps others would disagree.

Like Tom Boyd, I do remember calling at one point in my managerial career for neutral referees but is there any such thing in Scotland? Come to Glasgow for any corner of the world and someone, somewhere will unearth a photo of a Celtic-supporting granny or a referee whose Great Uncle once went to Ibrox. Or their name will suggest a background more in keeping with one side or the other. That is just the way it is.

The only thing that will help is bringing in some consistency and having better referees. What has riled everyone this season is the lack of consistency and until that changes then you are always going to have pretty big episodes like this. We are also not helped in Scotland in the fact that we are a small nation with a small pool of officials so it is the same faces always in charge of the same teams.