After a quiet close-season, there remains plenty of work to do - and several questions to answer.

THE SQUAD

IT has not, it's fair to say, been an exhilarating close-season down Warwick Road.

It is a stark contrast to the early transfer business of summer 2016. By this stage last year Curle had drafted a host of new faces in. Fans could spend the quite June weeks weighing up how the likes of Nicky Adams, Mike Jones, Jamie Devitt and Shaun Miller would enhance their side.

There has been no such opportunity 12 months later, although additions to follow Jack Bonham's loan arrival will be made soon.

At risk of sounding like a broken record, the Blues are very close to a number of deals. The wait will be over before too long.

And it needs to be, given that 13 senior professionals were left on the books after a cluster of departures. That number is bolstered by four teenagers who came through the youth ranks, but they start on "development" contracts.

Carlisle are short in a number of departments, not least up front, where Shaun Miller is literally a lone striker.

Hallam Hope, a familiar former loan face, remains in Curle's sights in that department.

In goal, meanwhile, where two senior keepers left this summer, Brentford's Bonham has completed a six-month loan move.

Midfield is better-stocked, not least with Jason Kennedy having signed a new deal and Mike Jones back from injury. James Bailey has gone, a contract offer withdrawn, but Samir Nabi accepted a year-long deal. Former Bury man Kelvin Etuhu, another strongly-linked target, would increase this department further.

At the back, many would like to see significant additions to the part of the team that leaked heavily in 2016/17. In the meantime, Mark Ellis is back from his loan at Forest Green, while the summer exits in the defensive ranks were of centre-half Michael Raynes and left-back Patrick Brough, the young Cumbrian who fell out of favour.

Supporters have seen many rival clubs sign players and wondered when United would catch up. Colin West, the assistant manager, conceded that recruitment has been more "frustrating" this summer, blaming in part Carlisle's involvement in the play-offs for delaying their work.

Other factors must be at play, though, given that the other play-off sides (Luton, Exeter and winners Blackpool) have openly done some business. It became quickly apparent that Mansfield's financial strength this summer had also outmuscled Carlisle (and several others) on early targets.

It now boils down to how good Carlisle's later recruits will be. West says they would like a squad of about 24 bodies, so as the clock ticks, there is plenty of work to be done.

THE MANAGER

This has been Curle's third close-season since taking charge, and a particularly quiet one in terms of public comment from Carlisle's boss.

Matching his first summer, the Blues manager has given no interviews to the local media, even cancelling a post-season press conference at short notice.

Curle has made sporadic contributions on the club website, commenting, for instance, on their Carabao Cup draw at Fleetwood.

But the chance to quiz United's leader on the really pressing matters has been elusive, and so the questions will stack up when the opportunity does come around next week.

It would be interesting to know, for instance, how Curle feels about the budget he was given at the outset of the close-season.

Why, too, has Carlisle's work been so quiet compared with last year?

What of his talks with the board, which the latter said were "positive" but which have not yet been commented upon by Curle himself? Was he, to refer to his post-Exeter interview in May, reassured his "ambition" was "aligned" with that of his paymasters in the way the hierarchy have said?

Having called for extra investment, what was his response to an initial budget which was (according to chief executive Nigel Clibbens) similar, or slightly less, than he was armed with 12 months ago?

Why, too, have a number of deals apparently been lined up but without any official acknowledgement so far?

Curle, it is understood, would also like progress on a new contract, given his current terms expire in a year's time. The Blues indicated "provisional" talks had taken place after Exeter. How these move on will be intriguing on both sides.

Then there was the brief recent story linking Curle with Aberdeen. It went nowhere, and appeared to have little basis in terms of actual contact between the clubs. It raised, though, another debate on United's boss: how much of an asset the club feel he is, and why that little tale materialised in the first place.

A summer news vacuum can often be filled with over-active imaginations. But there are several reasons why we will hang on every word when Curle speaks next.

OFF THE PITCH

There is still no sign of United's loan facilitators, Edinburgh Woollen Mill, putting their foot to the floor in a way that will drive the Blues forward at speed.

Other than a shirt sponsorship deal, there has been little tangible activity.

Yet United, who are not actively seeking other investment, must still fancy their chances of making something substantial happen.

Details are vague, but at least one meeting has taken place between the Blues ownership and the EWM top brass this summer. Again described as "positive" by Carlisle, the talks were believed to include thoughts on a deeper relationship between United and Philip Day's firm.

A theory often aired is that a businessman like Day does not come to the table without a plan. It remains implausible that he would dip his toe (and his firm's fortune) into United's waters without a firm idea of where he would like it to go.

Alas, so far, EWM are not talking about the big picture, and so the speed of change is at marathon pace, rather than a dash.

In a parallel universe, this would be the first close-season of Yahya Kirdi, the mystery overseas "billionaire" whose eventual approach was thrown out.

On the basis of the size of his offer, this wouldn't necessarily have been a summer of grand splurges either. Yet in the real world the question of how strong United are able to be, how high they are able to build, remains short of a final answer.