Neil Lennon’s managerial debut at Dunfermline Athletic took a turn for the worse on Saturday afternoon as marquee signing Victor Wanyama was shown a red card just 20 minutes into his Scottish football return, leaving fans stunned.
The former Celtic and Tottenham Hotspur midfielder made his introduction as a second half substitute with Dunfermline trailing 1-0 to Ayr United at Somerset Park, but things quickly worsened for the Kenyan.
Just four minutes later, Jamie Murphy doubled the hosts’ lead after Connor McLennan’s first-half opener.
And in a further blow to Dunfermline’s hopes, with just six minutes remaining, Wanyama – whose signing had raised eyebrows given the club’s position near the foot of the Scottish Championship – was sent off for a handball.
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Wanyama was red-carded after slipping outside the box while in possession and then handling the ball, blocking Mark McKenzie's path to goal and almost pulling the Ayr attacker to the ground.
Ayr then added a third through Ethan Walker deep into stoppage time to inflict more pain on Lennon and his former Celtic colleague Wanyama.
But it was a fantastic result over his old gaffer for Ayr manager Scott Brown, as the Honest Men leaped up to second in the league standings.
As the Dunfermline supporters left Ayrshire and made their way back to Fife, images began circulating of a Kenyan flag, left in tribute to Wanyama, hanging alone on the Somerset Park terraces.
