Marv-ellous

What to say about Marvin Robinson? The term 'much travelled', which is how Jerome Sale described him, does not always fill you with confidence. Occasionally it refers to a player who comes in to do a specific job, usually shoring up a defence or midfield in a relegation battle.

More often, however, it's a player with talent who has some kind of disciplinary problems. And so it seems with Robinson, who has the less than envious position of being the first player to play with a police chip after being convicted of headbutting a woman in a night club.

Hmm, this doesn't make him a bad footballer, of course, 20 goals in 57 appearances (plus 50 as sub) is not a bad return. Last season with Lincoln he scored 7 in 20, but was still released. Perhaps coaches get fed up with his ill-discipline. After all, when you're working with a small budget, you've got to be a brilliant asset to a squad to have your indulgences tolerated in preference to a less able, more disciplined alternative.

Aside his record, a couple of positives are that he's joining a team on the up and Oxford fans know more than most the pain watching bad players being released and turning their careers around. Plus, the fact he's re-joining Jim Smith, who clearly knows him from his Derby days.

If he can get an early goal and get a roll starting, then hopefully he'll be an asset to the intelligence of Basham, speed of Odubade and strength of Duffy. Undoubtedly we have options up front, but are they the right options?