He was taken on because Thorn and his staff liked what they saw when he was on trial here. From what I heard of his performances during pre-season and from what I saw against Sheffield United (couldn't make the Bury game), that isn't so far-fetched as reasons go. Particularly not if the management may have been banking on our highest wage earner with a mixed injury record (Wood) leaving the Club at that time and were not convinced about placing a full season on Willis or even Cameron (who I think has been prone to several dodgy moments in the past... not saying anything about his credentials, other than people might be wise to not put too much pressure on him as being a definitive answer to centre back woes for the rest of this season and beyond).
Onwards and upwards, I suspected Malaga might have been worth a place in our squad from what I had seen of him, but I have not seen even as much as Robins in his short tenure as manager (and we are going to need someone up front if McGoldrick returns in January).