Ranking the 20 EPL Teams: From Blackburn to Swansea City

Reading the title, you might think to yourself, "Isn't that what the league table is for?" Of course, you would be right. But this ranking system is based on more than points gained over 38 league matches.

Taken into consideration here will be cup performances, European performances, management changes and league placings. But the key difference is that the league placings are weighted against a team's performance in the previous season, a realistic benchmark of expectation and obviously the final standing in the Premier League table.

So who has really been the worst team this season? Who has had the best year? And where do the newly crowned champions, Manchester City, rank in the list?

Read on to find out and provide comments in the space below to tell me why your team should be higher on the list.

20th: Blackburn Rovers

League placing: 19th with 31 points, down four places—relegated

FA Cup: 3rd round (Newcastle, 2-1)

League Cup: Quarter Final (Cardiff, 2-0)

It was a campaign to forget for Blackburn Rovers, who spent the entire season fruitlessly fighting against relegation. On top of that, manager Steve Kean and owners Venky's underwent sustained abuse before, during and after matches from the beginning of the season to the end.

Fan pressure has never been displayed on this level, with Kean frequently needing to re-state his intention that he would not walk away from the job. While some labelled this as dignified defiance, to linger on where one is not wanted, to ultimately fail in your goals, does not merit such a description.

Rovers fans have been vociferous in their distaste for owners and manager alike, and so most neutral fans will be glad to see the club gone from the Premier League.

A finish of 15th last season, coupled with promises of big-name transfers led Kean to tip Blackburn for a top-half finish. The spectacular failure to live up to those expectations means that they are by far the league's worst-performing outfit.

19th: Aston Villa

League placing: 16th with 38 points, down seven places

FA Cup: 4th Round (Arsenal, 3-2)

League Cup: 3rd Round (Bolton, 2-0)

Alex McLeish never really got started at Aston Villa. Coming, as he did, from recently relegated arch-rivals Birmingham City, McLeish was vilified by the fans from the very day his appointment was announced.

Having finished ninth in the league last season, Villa fans could have expected consolidation at the very least. Failure to even come close to that aim largely explains why Aston Villa are so low down on this list.

Here's some statistics to highlight just how bad the season was at Villa Park:

• Lost 22 points from winning positions
• Drew 17 matches (highest in the Premier League)
• Won only four home games (Villa's worst in 138 years of existence)
• 38 points accrued (Villa's lowest in Premier League history)

All that, coupled with McLeish's inescapable past, meant that he was a dead man walking all along, despite Villa's ultimate success in surviving relegation.

18th: Bolton Wanderers

League placing: 18th with 36 points, down four places—relegated

FA Cup: Quarter Final (Tottenham, 3-1)

League Cup: 4th Round (Arsenal, 2-1)

Not many people tipped Bolton to struggle as badly as they have this season. After finishing 14th in the table last season, (a position worsened by their collapse following defeat in that year's FA Cup semifinal), Bolton fans, like Blackburn's, could have expected a push for the division's top half.

That never came close to materializing. While hard-luck stories, ranging from the injury list to the dubious refereeing decisions that befell them at Stoke on their fateful final day, undoubtedly contributed to their demise, they were ultimately relegated because they could not stop teams from scoring against them.

The perfect example was that final day at Stoke when, after leading 2-1, they failed to hold on to their advantage which, following the other results, would have been enough to keep them up.

The 77 goals they conceded was a figure bettered only by their fellow droppers, and any attempt to bounce straight back up from the Championship will need to begin with a shoring up of their defences. Owen Coyle has a big job on his hands.

17th: Wolverhampton Wanderers

League placing: 20th with 25 points, down three places—relegated

FA Cup: 3rd Round (Birmingham, 1-0)

League Cup: 4th Round (Man City, 5-2)

Three matches into the Premier League season and Wolves found themselves third in the table behind only Manchester City and United. At that point, it was not unreasonable to expect Mick McCarthy's team to settle comfortably into their third consecutive season in the top flight.

That proved to be an unrealistic expectation, as it was all downhill from there. At the time of McCarthy's sacking, following a humiliating 5-1 home defeat to local rivals West Bromwich Albion, Wolves were flirting with relegation, as they were 18th on goal difference only.

Chief executive Jez Moxey chose to act and sacked McCarthy in an attempt to alter the club's momentum and avoid the drop into the Championship. Sadly for him and the club, the botched managerial search that was to follow led to the underwhelming appointment of assistant coach Terry Connor, who was unable to glean a single victory out of the players in their remaining matches.

Wolves were relegated with three matches to spare, finishing rock bottom of the division, six points adrift of the next position up and 12 from safety.

16th: Sunderland

League placing: 13th with 45 points, down three places

FA Cup: Quarter Final (Everton, 2-0)

League Cup: 2nd Round (Brighton, 1-0 aet)

Another club to part ways with their manager midway through the season, Sunderland had a mediocre campaign in the end. The threat of relegation was seen off following the replacement of Steve Bruce with Martin O'Neill, as the Irishman's appointment sent a wave of momentum through the club that saw them climb the table and, at one stage, even threaten the top six.

That momentum soon came crashing to a halt following Sunderland's defeat at home to Everton in the FA Cup quarter final. O'Neill's men failed to win another game after that, drawing five and losing the other three to tumble back down into lower mid-table.

With the right additions to the squad in the summer, next season could be a good one for Sunderland. They'll certainly be hoping to return to the sort of form they showed during the first three months of O'Neill's reign.

15th: Manchester United

League placing: 2nd with 89 points, down one place

Champions League: Group Stage (3rd, 9 points)

Europa League: Last 16 (Athletic Bilbao, 5-3 agg)

FA Cup: 4th Round (Liverpool, 2-1)

League Cup: Quarter Final (Crystal Palace, 2-1 aet)

It was a year to forget for Sir Alex Ferguson. From leading the Premier League title race by eight points with just six matches remaining, Manchester United contrived to surrender their title. Not only did they surrender their title, but it was local rivals Manchester City that pipped them to it, and just to rub salt in the wounds, it was lost on goal difference in added time.

Combined with a complete failure to challenge for any other domestic honours and limping weakly out of the Champions League in a group most observers labelled as winnable, United ended the campaign trophy-less for the first time since the 2006-07 season.

Bringing Paul Scholes out of retirement in an attempt to rescue the season almost worked for Ferguson, but ultimately that move highlighted nothing other than United's need for serious creative midfield investment.

The Scot faces one of the most challenging summers of his entire reign at Old Trafford. He has gone from being on the brink of European glory and formulating a plan to topple Barcelona to scrapping in his own back yard to wrest the domestic title from his nearest rivals. With the years counting down to the end of his great and peerless career, he will certainly want to go out on top.

14th: Fulham

League placing: 9th with 52 points, down one place

Europa League: Group Stage (3rd, 8 points)

FA Cup: 4th Round (Everton, 2-1)

League Cup: 3rd Round (Chelsea, 4-3 pens)

Fulham's position in this list is harmed by their disappointing performances in the cup competitions, as well as their failure to escape from a Europa League group that should have been achievable.

Their final league position is one place lower than the eighth-place finish they achieved under Mark Hughes, but Martin Jol's campaign was perhaps hampered by their early start in Europa League qualifying.

Clint Dempsey finished the season with 17 league goals, so keeping the American at the club will be just as important as recruiting the players Jol needs to improve his team this summer.

13th: Stoke City

League placing: 14th with 45 points, down one place

Europa League: Last 32 (Valencia, 2-0, agg)

FA Cup: Quarter Final (Liverpool, 2-1)

League Cup: 4th Round (Liverpool, 2-1)

It was a season of consolidation for Stoke, finishing as they did one position lower than their 13th of last season. Coupled with a first European campaign, however, means it was a satisfactory season for The Potters.

Tony Pulis will be hoping his side can kick on next season and perhaps even challenge for a place in the top half. It is a credit to him and his team that they have become the benchmark for newly promoted teams as they aspire to survive and grow into their Premier League status.

12th: Queen's Park Rangers

League placing: 17th with 37 points, up one place (i.e. promoted as Championship champions)

FA Cup: 4th Round (Chelsea, 1-0)

League Cup: 2nd Round (Rochdale, 2-0)

It is a case of mission accomplished for QPR this season. Promoted from the Championship as Champions, Rangers would have bitten your fingers off for 17th at the start of the season, and 17th is what they have got.

A mid-season managerial change in the sacking of Neil Warnock reaped dividends in that his replacement, Mark Hughes, steered the R's to safety. Whether or not Warnock would have achieved the same we will never know, but QPR can be happy with their season's work.

A last-day salvation thanks purely and simply to Stoke's draw with Bolton was perhaps cutting things a little close, but with the right investment in new players this summer, QPR should be able to consolidate their Premier League status next season.

11th: Liverpool

League placing: 8th with 59 points, down two places

FA Cup: Runner-Up (Chelsea, 2-1)

League Cup: Winners

A season that concludes with the sacking of the manager can never be considered a success. As pointed out here, Kenny Dalglish's second reign as Liverpool manager will be marked in the history books as a failure.

Despite winning the League Cup and coming within millimetres of taking the FA Cup final to extra time, Liverpool's Premier League results simply weren't up to standard. Their eighth-place finish was their lowest since 1993-94 and, with the stated target of Champions League football a distant 18 points away, it becomes harder to make a case for Liverpool's season being considered a success.

Endless excuse-making from Dalglish, from blaming bad luck to refereeing decisions, gave little indication that he had the answers to turn the club's fortunes around. The owners clearly felt the same way and have chosen to act now.

It's anyone's guess as to who the new man in charge will be, but he will have a big job on his hands to turn Liverpool into a top-four club once more.

10th: Arsenal

League placing: 3rd with 70 points, up one place

Champions League: Last 16 (AC Milan, 4-3 agg)

FA Cup: 5th Round (Sunderland, 2-0)

League Cup: Quarter Final (Manchester City, 1-0)

The date was February 18th. Arsenal were beaten 2-0 at Sunderland in the FA Cup fifth round, and all hopes of preventing their seven-year trophy-less run from extending into an eighth were dashed.

Out of the League Cup, a distant fourth in the Premier League and 4-0 down from the first leg of their Champions League Last-16 tie against AC Milan, Arsene Wenger's men were at an all-time low.

But suddenly, from the depths of despair, their FA Cup elimination seemed to spur them on. From there, Arsenal went on a six-match winning streak, including key Premier League victories over Tottenham, Liverpool and Everton.

That run, coupled with Tottenham's well-publicised slump, saw Arsenal devour the gap and move ahead in the race for third and a guaranteed place in the Champions League group stage. A late-season stutter almost let Spurs back in, but it was clinched in the end with a last-day victory at West Bromwich Albion.

While the season may have had a happy ending, the reality is for Arsenal that, yet again, they did not come close to winning any silverware. Fans and players may soon tire of the endless Champions League cycle of qualify, get knocked out, qualify, get knocked out.

If Arsenal are to change that cycle, it is imperative that they keep those players, Robin Van Persie in particular. There aren't many players who can score 30 league goals in one season, so if their captain and talisman leaves, like Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri did last summer, the Gunners will struggle.

That cycle may well break, but not in the way the fans might want.

9th: Wigan Athletic

League placing: 15th with 43 points, up one place

FA Cup: 3rd Round (Swindon Town, 2-1)

League Cup: 2nd Round (Crystal Palace, 2-1)

They didn't leave things as late as last season, but Wigan Athletic once again survived relegation against all the odds. Their end-of-season form saw them rise from bottom of the league after 27 matches following their home defeat to Swansea City.

The Latics surged to finish 15th with sensational victories over Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal and Newcastle. That end-of-season form has seen manager Roberto Martinez linked with the managerial vacancies at Aston Villa (for the second summer running) and Liverpool.

That in itself is testament to the impressive work Martinez has done in Lancashire, and, should he depart, chairman Dave Whelan will have a very difficult task indeed in finding a replacement.

8th: Chelsea

League placing: 6th with 64 points, down four places

Champions League: Winners

FA Cup: Winners

League Cup: Quarter Final (Liverpool, 2-0)

We'll start with the positives. Chelsea have just won the Champions League for the first time in their history to go with their fourth FA Cup in six years. Qualification for next season's Champions League has been assured by virtue of winning the 2011-12 edition and new plans have been announced for a brand new stadium.

Interim manager Roberto Di Matteo has taken the reins from the much-maligned Andre Villas-Boas and the players have responded to the Italian. The turnaround in form that saw them clinch two trophies has been spectacular, but it does raise an important question.

Where were these players, so unrecognisable from the first half of the season, when Villas-Boas was there? The likes of Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba and Ashley Cole have performed brilliantly for Di Matteo, but they much shoulder at least some of the blame for the failed Villas-Boas reign.

Two trophies is more than most teams could wish for, but it must not paper over the cracks at Stamford Bridge. A season in which a manager has been dismissed cannot be looked upon as a total success, and a final league position of sixth represents a very disappointing return for a club with hopes of Premiership glory.

Roman Abramovich faces a key decision this summer. Does he stick with Di Matteo, whose transformation of the club has been so dramatic, or does he identify a new man to lead Chelsea into yet another new era?

7th: West Bromwich Albion

League placing: 10th with 47 points, up one place

FA Cup: 4th Round (Norwich, 2-1)

League Cup: 3rd Round (Everton, 2-1 aet)

Looking back on the season at The Hawthorns gives an impression of a quiet, well-run, mid-table team that never threatened the European places, but also never looked like being relegated. And what is wrong with that?

Not very much, actually. Roy Hodgson has taken West Brom into the top half of the Premier League and to their highest league finish since 1980-81.

In answer to the question as to why West Brom merit a place so high on this list, all you need to know is that the FA sought to appoint Hodgson as the man to lead England to international glory.

6th: Tottenham Hotspur

League placing: 4th with 69 points, up one place

Europa League: Group Stage (3rd, 10 points)

FA Cup: Semi Final (Chelsea, 5-1)

League Cup: 3rd Round (Stoke, 7-6 pens)

It was certainly a mixed season for Spurs fans. Half will have you believe that the campaign was a bitter disappointment, given that third place was theirs for the taking and the chance to reach the FA Cup final was spurned in spectacular fashion at Wembley against Chelsea.

The other half will tell you that it was a great season. With an aim of finishing fourth and challenging in one of the cup competitions, Harry Redknapp's men did not fall short of their targets, despite their ultimate aim of Champions League football being denied them in a cruel twist of fate.

Indeed, with a run to the semi finals of the FA Cup and an improvement on last season's 5th-placed finish, the season should be looked back upon with satisfaction.

There will always be that niggling feeling, though, that an opportunity to guarantee themselves a place in the Champions League group stages was missed, particularly as it would have been at the expense of arch-rivals Arsenal.

Whatever your opinion on the reasons behind Tottenham's spring slump, whether it be Redknapp's links to the England job, lack of squad depth or Ledley King's knees, it is hard to be too disappointed with the season overall.

Aside from a disappointing Europa League campaign which most fans would have thought represented a genuine chance to win a trophy, 2011-12 should be considered a success for Spurs.

For it to be matched or bettered next season, keeping the players currently at the club could be just as important as bringing new ones in.

5th: Everton

League placing: 7th with 56 points, non-mover

FA Cup: Semi Final (Liverpool, 2-1)

League Cup: 4th Round (Chelsea, 2-1 aet)

David Moyes continues to defy the odds at Everton. Despite yet another slow start at Goodison, Moyes managed to rescue the campaign with two January transfer window deadline-day master strokes.

Former Blue Steven Pienaar was loaned in from his Tottenham nightmare to add a creative spark to the midfield, while Nikica Jelavic was purchased from Glasgow Rangers for £5.5million to add the firepower so sorely lacking in the first half of the season.

The result was a surge up the league table, finishing in seventh place, and very much the winners of the "best of the rest" crown behind the Premier League's distant top six. The cherry on that particular cake was also finishing one place and four points above local rivals Liverpool.

The only stain on Everton's campaign were the season's three defeats to the Reds. The turnover at Goodison would have disappointed many much more than the surrender at Anfield that came before an all-important FA Cup clash with Sunderland.

Worse than that, though, was the soul-destroying semi-final defeat at Wembley at the hands of Andy Carroll. Those three defeats, and the latter in particular, betray a psychological disadvantage that Moyes has been unable to overcome in his long spell at Everton.

That, coupled with tackling the unhealthy habit of starting seasons so poorly, must be the Glaswegian's next challenge at Everton if he is to take the club further forward.

4th: Manchester City

League placing: 1st with 89 points, up two places, Champions

Champions League: Group Stage (3rd, 10 points)

Europa League: Last 16 (Sporting Lisbon, 3-3 agg, away goals)

FA Cup: 3rd Round (Manchester United, 3-2)

League Cup - Semi Final (Liverpool, 3-2 agg)

Whatever you think of the oil-fueled uprising in the blue half of Manchester, Roberto Mancini deserves a lot of credit for managing Manchester City's Premier League triumph. With curve balls in the distinguished shapes of Carlos Tevez and Mario Balotelli being thrown at him from all angles, he has managed to retain a sense of togetherness and belief within his squad.

It is that belief that carried City through to the end of the stupefyingly implausible title-clinching victory over QPR on the final day of the season.

A disappointing campaign in an admittedly difficult Champions League group means that Mancini's next challenge is obvious, while he must also prepare himself for the inevitable backlash to come from Manchester United.

As a neutral observer, though, it is hard to see who can challenge City. As long as Mancini can continue to keep the house in reasonable order, we could be set for a period of domination never before witnessed in the English game.

3rd: Norwich City

League placing: 12th with 47 points, up seven places (i.e. promoted as Championship runners-up)

FA Cup: 5th Round (Leicester City, 2-1)

League Cup: 2nd Round (MK Dons, 4-0)

Norwich City were among many people's favourites for relegation at the beginning of the season, following consecutive promotions from League One up to the Premiership. But in the face of that doubt, Paul Lambert became the only man to lead a team into the top flight of English football following consecutive promotions and stay there.

Like QPR, Lambert would have taken 17th at the start of the year had it been offered to him, but, unlike QPR, Norwich excelled themselves to the point where they never even flirted with relegation.

Famous results in north London against Arsenal and Tottenham in particular led Norwich to their highest league finish since 1993-94. Such lofty heights have also led fans to call for talisman Grant Holt to be included in England's Euro 2012 squad and manager Lambert to be linked with the vacant Aston Villa and Liverpool managerial posts.

The famous second-season syndrome could be waiting to strike the Canaries next season, so it will be imperative that, above all else, Norwich keep hold of their manager for the next campaign. Failure to do that and arguably the greatest managerial achievement in recent memory could end up consigned to the history books forever.

2nd: Newcastle United

League placing: 5th with 65 points, up seven places

FA Cup: 4th Round (Brighton, 1-0)

League Cup: 4th Round (Blackburn Rovers, 4-3 aet)

What a season it has been for Newcastle United. Challenging for the Champions League places right up until the final day of the season, Alan Pardew and his team have taken the Premier League by storm.

Pilloried by fans upon his appointment, Pardew has gone about his work quietly and efficiently. After receiving a whoppingly disproportionate £35million for Andy Carroll, the money has been invested brilliantly.

Yohan Cabaye and Demba Ba lit up St James's Park in the first half of the season, and Newcastle fans could hardly have hoped for any better. Step in, Papiss Cisse.

The Senegalese forward arrived in the January transfer window to go on and score 13 goals in 14 appearances to fire Newcastle to the brink of greatness. That they fell short of the top four will mean that the Magpies face a Europa League campaign next season that will challenge their resources to the limit.

Manager of the Year Pardew will already be aware of that fact and will again work tirelessly to bring the right men to Newcastle to shape their challenge for next year. Will they be able to build on one fantastic season and achieve a sustained period of success?

Or are they one-season wonders that will struggle to cope with the weight of added expectation and extra fixtures, to drop back into the mediocrity of mid-table?

Only time will tell. But you can be sure, with Newcastle, it won't be dull to watch.

1st: Swansea City

League placing: 11th with 47 points, up nine places (i.e. promoted as Championship Playoff winners)

FA Cup: 4th Round (Bolton Wanderers, 2-1)

League Cup: 2nd Round (Shrewsbury Town, 3-1)

Swansea City win the accolade of Team of the Season by virtue of their monumental charge from relegation fodder to the brink of the Premier League's top half.

Teams promoted as Playoff winners are invariably the favourites to finish rock bottom of their new division the following season, so for Swansea to not only survive, but to also surpass their fellow promoted clubs speaks volumes for the magnificent work done at the Liberty Stadium by manager Brendan Rodgers.

Much has been made of not only Swansea's results, but the style with which they have been achieved and the credit for that lies largely with Rodgers.

Testament to his obvious ability is the fact that he has already been linked with managerial jobs at Tottenham and Liverpool, only to re-affirm his commitment to the Swansea cause.

After achieving their highest league finish since 1981-82, Swansea will look to build on that and break into the Premier League's top 10. With Rodgers at the helm, few would disagree that they have a wonderful chance to achieve that and much, much more.