All week at ProSoccerTalk we are reviewing the dramatic 2015-16 Premier League season.
From dishing out awards to looking back at the highs and lows in the as 20 teams battled it out, we’ll have every angle covered.
[ MORE: All 2015-16 PL season reviews ]
For the full archive of our review content, just hit the link above. Now we are looking at the individual teams alphabetically and analyzing how they fared.
Here’s a look at the 10 teams from Newcastle United down to West Ham United.
Newcastle United
Position: 18th
High: Georginio Wijnaldum scored four goals against Norwich in a 6-2 win.
Low: Being relegated for the second time in a decade. A club of this size?!?
Star man: Andros Townsend — With respect to Chancel Mbemba, who also missed plenty of time, Townsend’s arrival in January reinvigorated a miserable attack.
Coach: Steve McClaren proved that many who wander are lost, and Rafa Benitez would need to have almost zero missteps to save the club. He had one big one, a 0-0 draw against Villa.
Grade: F
Norwich City
Position: 19th
High: The 3-2 win over Newcastle on April 2 had the Canaries feeling ready for safety.
Low: The 3-0 loss to Sunderland three weeks later all but ruined those plans.
Star man: Robbie Brady — Their season could’ve been as poor as Aston Villa’s, honestly, had Norwich not bought the Hull City star.
Coach: Alex Neil didn’t save the Canaries, but he came close despite a lack of top-end talent.
Grade: D
Southampton
Position: 6th
High: Thumping Arsenal on Boxing Day or Spurs on the season’s penultimate match day.
Low: Bouncing out of the Europa League at the hands of Midtjylland.
Star man: Virgil Van Dijk — There were a lot of wonder workers at St. Mary’s this season, but the former Celtic center back was stout, strong and fearsome.
Coach: Ronald Koeman was absolutely the right man to take over for Mauricio Pochettino, even if many of us scratched at our heads at the hiring last season.
Grade: A
Stoke City
Position: 9th
High: Beating Manchester United 2-0 on Boxing Day.
Low: Allowing 12 goals over three-straight losses in April.
Star man: Jack Butland — It’s no coincidence that Stoke’s turn in form was very close to coinciding with his season-ending injury.
Coach: Mark Hughes‘ defense fell apart after a very promising smart. Injuries certainly hurt his chances, but better is needed to take the next step.
Grade: B-
Swansea City
Position: 12th
High: Battering West Ham and Liverpool in successive May fixtures.
Low: Getting two points between Halloween and Dec. 20.
Star man: Gylfi Sigurdsson — Andre Ayew was the new shiny toy, but Icelandic star Sigurdsson had plenty of big moments in lifting Swans out of its relegation-threatening funk.
Coach: Garry Monk felt like a hard-luck sacking with Swans in the drop zone, but Francesco Guidolin’s work proved that a fresh take in the team room was all the talented Swans needed to thrive in the PL.
Grade: C+
Sunderland
Position: 17th
High: Beating up on miserable Everton to seal PL safety with a 3-0 win in May.
Low: Going winless from Opening Day until October 25
Star man: Lamine Kone — Jermain Defoe caught fire and scored some massive goals, but Kone stabilized a very leaky back line.
Coach: Big Sam Allardyce isn’t much of a tactician, but his work in the January transfer market kept the Black Cats up.
Grade: C-
Tottenham Hotspur
Position: 3rd
High: Walking all over Manchester United 3-0 in a Top Four tilt on April 10.
Low: Throwing away a 2-0 halftime lead and any remaining title chances in a messy, card-filled 2-2 draw at Chelsea in May.
Star man: Harry Kane — Lots of worthwhile players here — Mousa Dembele is criminally underappreciated — but Kane is so much more than a finisher and took his game to new heights this season.
Coach: Mauricio Pochettino should be lauded for a wonderful season, but fans will be licking their wounds after Arsenal passed them on the final day. Twenty-one straight seasons below their rivals. Woof.
Grade: A-
Watford
Position: 13th
High: Clobbering Liverpool 3-0 in December at Vicarage Road, or upsetting Arsenal in the FA Cup.
Low: Losing 4-0 to that same Arsenal side two weeks later.
Star man: Troy Deeney — For scoring and captaining the side, the big man gets the nod over electric striker Odion Ighalo and shotstopper Heurelho Gomes.
Coach: Quique Sanchez Flores did a fantastic job, and is not coming back. Safety first, stability when?
Grade: B-
West Bromwich Albion
Position: 14th
High: Beating Arsenal on Nov. 21 at the Hawthorns.
Low: Upset in the FA Cup by Reading.
Star man: Johnny Evans — Slim pickings here, but Evans was huge given what Tony Pulis wants from his charges.
Coach: Tony Pulis kept his side safe again… at the expense of entertainment. And it’s not like he doesn’t have talent! This is a personal beef of mine, but the Baggies supporters I know expect better football from their club.
Grade: D
West Ham United
Position: 7th
High: Winning a London Derby 2-0 at Arsenal on Opening Day was nice, but the final match at the Boleyn Ground was a night for the ages. The fact that it was a thrilling win over Manchester United helped, too.
Low: May 7’s loss to Swansea City cost the Hammers dearly in the race for the Top Five.
Star man: Dimitri Payet — Quite simply sensational.
Coach: Slaven Bilic is that rare breed to make the transition from club playing hero to club managing hero. A near impeccable job from the granite-jawed Croatian, who showed West Ham that their “We can do better than Big Sam” theories were fair.
Grade: A
