TO THE VICTOR THE SPOILS

From DEREK McGREGOR at Celtic Park

Published: 10 Dec 2011

HE'S a Kenyan Roy Aitken and the Celtic supporters have already taken him to their hearts.

They used to chant Feed The Bear in tribute to ex-captain Aitken.

But with the man from Africa Victor Wanyama, it could be Feed the Lion.

His sensational 25-yard top corner winner 18 minutes from full-time clawed the Hoops back from the brink of a morale-sapping result and more lost ground to Rangers, little over a fortnight from another titanic derby.

It was a fabulous way for the No67 to open his Celtic account.

Wanyama — a summer steal from Belgian outfit Germinal Beerschot at just £900,000 — spent the 90 minutes hunting down Hearts players.

First it was as a central midfielder and for 45 minutes he was ruthless in his pursuit of possession, although occasionally wasteful with it.

Then for the other 45 he was a centre-half who stalked the Jambos frontmen and pounced on the ball at the first sniff.

Aitken famously played both positions, too, for Celtic and — like the fast-emerging Wanyama — was a dominant figure who loved cavalry-style runs upfield and inspired his team-mates with his sheer fearlessness.

Funnily enough, as Aitken often did, Wanyama also found himself embroiled in penalty-kick controversy as Hearts were handed a golden chance two minutes from time by ref Calum Murray for handball against the Celt.

Outrageous gamesmanship by Georgios Samaras and Fraser Forster — each insisting the ball hadn't been placed properly — delayed Eggert Jonsson for as long as possible before the Icelander's attempt was superbly pushed away by the keeper.

And so Wanyama — only 20 and with massive potential — ultimately emerged as a major hero alongside Forster for the kind of crucial, hard-fought victory which those teams with designs on the SPL title need to deliver.

What a find he is, with major credit due to Celtic's chief star-spotter John Park who was also responsible for discovering Emilio Izaguirre and Beram Kayal.

It took Wanyama until the start of last month to earn an extended spell of first-team action and he's now made eight successive starts.

A ninth against Udinese in Italy on Thursday in the Europa League looks a certainty.

Indeed, on Saturday's form you can't imagine him being out of the team for a long time.

At 6ft 2ins, and with an awesome physique, the Nairobi-born starlet makes for an intimidating opponent. Allied to athleticism and decent ability, Wanyama can surely look forward to a great future.

At his age there are still going to be rough edges to his game. But he has immediately taken to life with Celtic and, importantly for every new boy, wasted no time in getting the supporters on board.

Boss Neil Lennon had to endure a nail-biting finale before finally celebrating a sixth consecutive SPL victory which keeps the pressure on Rangers who have largely had the advantage of playing before Celtic.

The Hoops are much more solid at the back now, this being an impressive third successive league clean sheet and a fourth from five games.

Without question, Wanyama has played a significant role in them becoming meaner.

And grateful Lennon, who pushed him back into defence with the crocked Glenn Loovens forced off at half-time, said: "Victor's having a great time of it at the minute.

"He was decent first half. But he was OUTSTANDING in the second half.

"He's a player who has just progressed.

"His physical presence and his technical ability on the ball is excellent. His reading of the game is excellent too.

"Victor's been a tremendous signing for us so far."

Hearts' players have, disgracefully, been without wages for too long.

But they weren't without credit at Parkhead.

This defeat was a further crushingly cruel blow for them to stomach after weeks of financial strain.

But the gutsy Jambos stars still gave loathsome club owner Vladimir Romanov far more for the cause than the tycoon deserved.

Pre-match talk of Celtic chalking up a big scoreline looked fanciful after only ten minutes as Hearts — operating a 4-5-1 system — played with spirit, determination and organisation.

Lennon's men toiled badly and the visitors gradually grew in belief. Their counter-attacking had the home fans biting their nails. Not even Wanyama's goal-of-the-season candidate could flatten the Jambos.

And if Jonsson's late penalty had gone in few, surely, would've begrudged Hearts a point given their off-the-field circumstances.

A relieved Lennon now focusing on that decisive tie against Udinese, added: "Sometimes it happens in football.

"At 1-0 there's always a chance of the other team getting a break against you or a decision.

"I thought we dominated for 80 to 90 per cent of the game.

"The character and fitness of the players was fantastic. I thought we thoroughly deserved to win and that a little bit of justice was done at the end.

"It's players pulling out big moments. Fraser's made a great save for us.

"But I was disappointed with the penalty decision.

"I assume the ref has given it for handball. But if you actually see where the ball goes, it is impossible for Victor to play the ball that direction with his hand. I don't know how much of a view Calum Murray got of it, although I can understand a little bit why the decision was given.

"Victor has used his arm for leverage. But for me he has not contacted the ball — it's come off Stevenson's head.

"It's now six league wins in a row and I can't ask any more of the players."

It would've been good to ask something of Hearts manager Paulo Sergio and his players.

But Romanov's pitiful media ban remains in place.