Karl Robinson took a gamble signing Josh Murphy for Oxford United and the eventual pay-off for the U’s came more than a year after he was sacked, on the back of a mostly unimpressive 18 months with the club.

In July of 2022, the news of Murphy signing for the Yellows was met with huge excitement by fans, who couldn’t believe a player of his quality had signed for a club like Oxford, who finished the 2021/22 season 8th in League One.

It quickly became apparent that part of the reason the winger had signed was due to a massive fitness problem. Murphy had only made 14 appearances in all competitions in the previous two seasons.

Murphy has since made it clear that at this time, he needed to start enjoying playing football again, and felt like dropping down a level to get more game time would help that.

The winger spoke to BBC Sport after he signed.

“It’s an important time for me,” he said. “I haven’t had a lot of football over the last couple of seasons, now is really a chance for me to kick on from where I went a bit stale”.

Murphy’s strong relationship with Robinson from their time together at MK Dons was also a factor, as the player revealed to the Oxford Mail.

“When you’ve got a manager backing you it’s great,” he said. “That’s what every player wants. We struck up a great relationship when we were together at MK Dons. It was a great loan spell and I really enjoyed working with the manager.

“To get the chance to do it all over again made sense, especially at the point of my career I’m at.”

Murphy failed to perform in an Oxford shirt

In his first season at the club, the winger only managed three assists all season and failed to get on the scoresheet.

It was a campaign to forget for Murphy, who suffered injuries throughout. Even when he was on the pitch, a lack of energy and intensity left him looking utterly disinterested at times.

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The midfielder left the Rams in the summer to join The U’s.

Manager Robinson admitted it was a risk bringing the winger to the club, who was once signed by Cardiff for £11 million, but was hoping it was one that would pay off.

He told the Oxford Mail: “Josh Murphy was probably the one that I look back on as the biggest risk we took, and I take full responsibility.

“Josh has been, when he’s fit and when he’s training, probably up there as one of our best players and could be our biggest output.

“They were risks I felt we had to take in this window”.

Robinson’s exit from Oxford

Towards the back end of Murphy’s first season with the club, the manager who signed him was sacked. Poor performances left the team in need of change so the club decided to bring in Liam Manning to change the tide and make sure United stayed in the division.

What would this change mean for Murphy? Robinson was always in his corner when things weren’t going his way. The manager would give countless post-match interviews in which he would reassure fans that once he is fully fit, the fans would have a player capable of winning any game of football for them.

The winger made nine appearances under Manning to close out the season but failed to impress. He looked like a player lacking confidence and energy, finishing the campaign with no goals and three assists to his name.

United made a fantastic start to the 2023/24 season under Manning. After losing the opening game against Cambridge United, the Yellows won nine of their next 10 league games. Out of those games, Murphy only made three substitute appearances.

Manning left the club less than a year after joining, heading to Bristol City. The decision was a shock to everyone at the club, with Oxford lying high in the automatic promotion sports at the time.

A new lease of life under Buckingham

Enter local boy Des Buckingham, a manager who had been all over the globe managing teams in New Zealand and India.

In Buckingham’s first game for United, Murphy came off the bench at half-time in a 2-0 loss. Even though the Yellows suffered defeat, it was the start of six straight appearances for Murphy, including three consecutive starts.

He was getting more minutes but was unable to show his quality. One assist and zero goals in 12 league appearances to start his second season was not good enough for many fans.

Murphy then suffered an injury that saw him miss the next eight games.

Finishing the season on a high

After his time on the sidelines, Murphy was back fit, playing 45 minutes in his first game back in February.

What followed was something that would be hard for even the player himself to explain, as he found a remarkably rich vein of form and fired Oxford to an unlikely promotion.

The winger started 15 consecutive games to close out the season and helped United climb their way back into the promotion spots, racking up six goals and three assists in his comeback spell to end the campaign.

United secured a spot in the play-offs on the final day, with Murphy winning a penalty to secure United the victory.

Murphy then started both semi-final games against Peterborough United, playing his part as they reached Wembley and then raising his gam further on the hallowed turf.

The 2024 League One play-off final will go down as the Josh Murphy final. Two fantastic finishes in the first half by the former Premier League player saw Oxford back into the second division of English football for the first time in 25 years.

After the game, he told Sky Sports: “I want to play in these big moments and my brother keeps telling me it’s my time to shine and I think I’ve done that today.”

“My brother [Newcastle United winger Jacob Murphy] sent a text to our family group chat. This time last year, I got told to find another club, and now I’ve just got the club promoted. I’m just lost for words.”

Murphy wrote his name into U’s folklore and cemented his fan favourites status but it would be his last contribution in a yellow shirt. Every fan was desperate to see him sign a new deal, with his contract expiring, but he opted against doing so and instead joined Portsmouth, who had been promoted alongside Buckingham’s side.

Now his two seasons with Oxford are in the past, we can look back at Murphy’s career in its entirety and it’s an intriguing one.

After 18 months of disappointment, he somehow repaid the faith shown in him by Robinson with six months of pure brilliance under his predecessor and proved us all wrong.

The “biggest risk” that Robinson had taken during his Kassam tenure may not have paid off for the 44-year-old but it certainly did for Oxford.