We know Ernie is looking for an attacking midfielder and is likely to be spending a bit on him. We could do with a genuine backup as well (maybe Gorrin as backup?) but have you ever seen Payne play as an attacking mid? I haven't but he doesn't really look like that sort of player to me. Ernie also said he would probably be after another defender. It wouldn't hurt to give him a trial (when the players are actually back, now isn't the time) but I feel people are generally overreacting to this, and also doing it off an indirect quote from a journalist.
I would be more interested in James than Payne, although if that is related to off-field issues we are not aware of I can understand not going for him either.
I have never seen Payne play, I have just heard he is an attacking player. I also haven't said we should sign Payne, I have just pointed out the consequences if we don't.
We have one import spot left and are looking for two players: an attacking midfielder and a striker. It currently seems unlikely that we will be able to sign an Australian or New Zealander to fill either role. McGlinchey is a 20% as mentioned and no one else's name has even come up. If we use our import spot on an attacking midfielder then Brockie will most probably be our striker for next season. That is the reality here. If we use our import spot on a striker then our midfield is going to lack a lot of quality.
It seems like a lot of people have said we can't sign James, we can't sign Payne, we can't sign Killen, we can't sign Fallon, we can't have Brockie as our striker next season.. Maybe, those people are correct on the individuals mentioned. However, we have to sign some players and whoever we sign probably isn't going to be a world beater. That's the reality of where the club is now. I think some fans are being overly picky when we have put ourselves into a bad position squad wise.