These are troubling times for West Ham off the pitch too.
There were a large number of empty seats at London Stadium on Monday as some fans staged a boycott, staying away in protest against the running of the club.
While this was the first boycott, supporters have previously called for chairman David Sullivan and vice-chair Karren Brady, who have been at West Ham since 2010, to step down.
Thousands of fans demonstrated before last month’s defeat by Crystal Palace and in response the club issued a lengthy statement,, external saying they were continuing “to listen to fan feedback”, have made “significant investment into the football operation” and “continue to do everything we can to improve the matchday experience”.
Payne was one of the fans who stayed away from the game for what he said was the first and the last time he will do so.
“There was a boycott but fans are not the problem, we are the solution waiting to be heard,” he said.
“It was a deliberate boycott to send a message to the owners that something has got to change.”
Payne said fan protests are solely aimed at the club’s owners, rather than the manager or players.
But Nuno’s decision to start with inverted full-backs against Brentford did raise some eyebrows.
“It’s unfair on Nuno and it’s unfair on the players as well,” Payne added.
“Nuno is a fantastic bloke, but I think he got his selections a bit skew-whiff last night by playing a young left-back – who has never played anywhere else – as right-back. Ollie Scarles, I felt sorry for him really.”