Beano's Staying!

I know this is a couple of days late, but I couldn't not mention it at all. How often do you see a player reject a giant pay rise to stick with his current club? Loyalty's a rare thing in football, but James Constable showed loyalty on the highest level. 

Beano celebrating at Wembley

Beano wasn't far off of being known as an Oxford legend before this whole saga with Swindon Town, and after rejecting them despite them vowing to 'significantly increase' his wages, I think there's a chance he'll go down in folklore after this episode. 

When I first heard that Swindon had made a bid for Constable I was shocked, and spent the rest of the day praying that we'd keep hold of our talisman, until he openly said 'I have never asked to speak to Swindon' on twitter. I assumed this was the end of the story and we'd still have Beano come the end of the month. But then three days later Swindon came back in with a 'significantly improved' offer, which to the dismay of the Oxford faithful, was accepted, and Constable was allowed to speak to Swindon. I honestly thought we'd lost our top goalscorer to our fiercest rivals, and I was devastated. No amount of money is worth losing a club legend to our neighbours down the A420. So to see Beano decline to even talk to Swindon Town, was fantastic. And having been at the game against Hereford two days after he rejected Swindon, I was obviously not the only person who felt this way. Chants of 'BEANO! BEANO! BEANO!' filled the Kassam from the outset.

Even while some people disgraced the name of Oxford United by sending abusive messages to him on twitter, I can't help but feel the support from the majority of the Oxford United fans in his time at the club was probably a major factor in his decision to stay at the club. Maybe more players will follow in the footsteps of Constable, and will stick by their club, even when a club comes offering more money. Loyalty in football is becoming scarce, but it's a great thing to behold when a player rejects money for the love of a club. James Constable is staying at Oxford United, and he isn't going anywhere soon.