Celtic's pre-season endeavours in England have thus far thrown up as many questions as answers.

Will Barry Robson or Scott Brown be handed a central midfield place when Shunsuke Nakamura returns to the side? Is Mark Brown reliable enough as deputy to Artur Boruc? How long have Gary Caldwell and Lee Naylor got to save their Celtic careers given the imminent arrival of squad reinforcements? What does the future hold for Massimo Donati, Bobo Balde, Thomas Gravesen et al?

They are questions that may remain unanswered for some time. The man who could furnish us with details, Gordon Strachan, the Celtic manager, is retaining a curious vow of silence in his dealings with the media, including the club's own in-house publications.

He broke his self-imposed omerta on Saturday night, via a Celtic press officer, to pour cold water on reports that he had been led away by a steward at half-time in this friendly match with Fulham following a heated exchange with a Celtic supporter.

"It was someone I know. There is nothing in this," was the extent of his unlikely explanation, although why Strachan was being harangued by a section of his own support shortly after leading his side to three successive league championships is a mystery all of its own. The booze readily available inside Craven Cottage on a sticky day may provide a partial explanation.

Frankly, it is nigh impossible to offer serious analysis of any squad before the transfer window closes at the end of August but, despite the result, there was little on Saturday to suggest that the cracked Celtic crests should be appearing any time soon.

Fulham, revitalised under the stewardship of the shrewd Roy Hodgson, offered a decent test of Celtic's credentials and the visitors, backed by the majority of the 16,508 crowd, coped relatively well.

Granted there will be concerns with the ease with which Erik Nevland and then Bobby Zamora found space in the centre of the Celtic defence to put their side two goals ahead, adding to the mounting pressure on Caldwell with Celtic keen to add another central defender to their roster in the coming weeks.

Similarly, a rare start for Donati offered no further evidence that the Italian is likely to be any more effective in a Celtic shirt this season than he was in the last. But caveats should be attached to any criticism.

Playing less than 17 hours after their victory over Southampton on Friday evening, Strachan surprisingly chose to send out again 10 of the 11 that started the Claus Lundekvam testimonial, assuring them of a taxing start to the campaign and no doubt alarming the club's sports scientists. There were positives, too. Robson was again Celtic's strongest performer and stroked home an exquisite free-kick after his buccaneering run through the centre of the Fulham defence was crudely halted just outside the penalty box.

The Strachan altercation and a third goal for the home side from Leon Andreasen may have taken the sheen off that fine Robson strike but panic is premature. All outstanding questions will be settled in time.

Whether Strachan is the man to prove those answers remains to be seen.