"Has any team ever gone down with a positive goal difference," asks David Lynch. "And has any team ever been promoted with a negative one?"
The answer is yes and (maybe) no. There are numerous examples of teams going down with a positive goal difference - and, as is usually the case, the biggest hard-luck story of them all comes from Maine Road.
"Manchester City completed an awesome double in 1937-38," says Ian Kay. "Not only did they become the only team ever to be relegated with a positive goal difference, they also became the only team ever to be relegated the year after being champions. As if that wasn't enough, they went down after falling five places on the last day of the season - and despite being top scorers in the whole division."
At least they're not alone. "Sheffield United had a goal difference of +2 when they were relegated from the old Third Division in 1981," adds Timothy Green. Moving further afield, Milan (1979-80) and Napoli (1949-50), who were both relegated with healthy goal differences because of unhealthy corruption allegations.
While we're overseas, Robert Langschwager has come up with umpteen examples, the best of which involves everyone's favourite second club: E.A.R Rethymo Kriti, who dropped out of the Greek Third Division with a positive goal difference of 39:28 in 1998-99. Mind you, five out of the division's 12 teams were relegated that season.
IF WE ONLY PLAYED 85 MINUTES...
"If matches were only 85 minutes long, would Wolves still be in the mess they are," asks Dave Price.I seem to remember them giving away a lead against Man City in the last minute or so and losing a game to Liverpool in similar fashion.
In short, Dave, yes, Wolves would still be staring at relegation to the First Division. Five of their games this season have been decided in the final five minutes, but it all evens itself up pretty nicely to see Wolves a mere one point better off if played over 85 minutes.
Wolves' 4-3 win over Leicester in October becomes a 3-3 draw when played over 85 minutes, and a 1-1 draw with Liverpool at Molineux in January would have seen Gerard Houllier's side take all three points had the whistle been blown five minutes earlier than usual - Kenny Miller's equaliser was virtually the last kick of the match.
But they would have gained a point in an 85-minute clash at Anfield a couple of months later, when they lost 1-0 to Sami Hyypia's 90th minute winner. Similarly a 3-3 draw with fellow strugglers Manchester City last month would have seen Wolves pick up an extra two points, had it not been for a 90th minute scorcher from Shaun Wright-Phillips. And just two days later they were denied a share of the spoils by a last-minute Kevin Davies winner against Bolton.
We make that three points lost and four points gained in the last five minutes for Wolves this season, and if you take into account all goals scored in the last five minutes, whether they affected the final result or not, a goal difference improved by eight. It's not going to do much for a team six points from safety and with a goal difference of -37 compared to 17th placed Manchester City's -2.
City, though, would be a point worse off under these rules - so Wolves would have a chance of catching them. And Bolton, the bunch of waifs and strays sitting pretty in 7th, would be nowhere near a sniff of European football if they lost the two points they gained in the last five minutes last month - they'd be 10th.
KNOWLEDGE ARCHIVE
"I wondered why many of the Arsenal players have something - some kind of fluid - on the top parts of their shirts?" asks Alex Shearman - a question we answered this a few weeks ago.
For all your other knowledge needs, check out the knowledge archive.
G'DAY MATE
"How many Aussies play in the Premiership, and which Aussie has the most appearances in the Premiership/First Division?" asks a breathless Gavin Ward in Melbourne.
There are 14 Aussies currently taking their monthly wage from a Premiership club, Gavin, though Mark Viduka, Wolves reserve Gareth Musson, and Leicester academy player James Wesolowski may not be holding that title for too much longer.
Elsewhere, Southampton's academy is home to Matthew Christensen and Jay Lucas, while the U19s at Charlton count Aussie midfielder Wayne Wilson among their number.
Better known names include Liverpool's fop-haired frontman Harry Kewell, Manchester City's Danny Tiatto, and 'feisty' [read 'has psychotic tendancies'] Blackburn defender Lucas Neill.
The rest: Brett Emerton (Blackburn), Hayden Foxe (Portsmouth), Middlesbrough goalkeeping duo Brad Jones and Mark Schwarzer, and Stan Lazaridis (Birmingham) have also graced the Premiership with their presence this season.
As for the player with the most Premiership appearances, simple. We're confident that it's goal-poaching midfielder and genius inventor Craig Johnston, who made 268 appearances for Liverpool (and a few more for Middlesbrough) in the 80s, a figure that eclipses Kewell's total appearances (215).
Can you help?
"So much said on Owen not scoring his penalties," says Thomas Tangen. "Who's the best penalty taker in a top flight team? I remember Jan Molby "never missed" for Liverpool and Matt Le Tissier hardly missed any penalties? So who is it?"
"I've been watching quite a few Bundesliga games this season," says Dennis Mumby. "And I've come to the conclusion that Werder Bremen (almost assured of the title) have the ugliest team strip in the entire world (shirts with puke-green and a delightful rusty-orangey brown, and then god-awful hoop socks in the same colours). Can anyone come up with another league-winning team that induced nausea because of their strip, and not their performance?"
"Has anyone ever won league titles in England, Spain and Italy during their career?" asks Rob Marshall, keeping it short and very much to the point.
Send your questions and answers to knowledge@theguardian.com.
