The real 'huh?' part it is if you look at it objectively, the player he is looking for is not in the ASBP because if he was, he would have been signed already. There are probably only 3 candidates and none of them are what he is looking for in Clapham, Butler and (outsider) Mulligan. Ernie is a smart guy, he should surely know this.
My internal monologue goes 'We need a goal scorer, not a midfielder. We have a few of those transplanted wide men to strikers' so I also go 'huh? We need a midfielder?'
I wonder if this is something similar to what JD was talking about over the weekend and this is a psychological play by Ernie.