Our Premier League report cards continue with four clubs whose seasons ranged from history-making highs to absolute chaos. Today, we look at Brighton, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, and Everton, a quartet that offered just about every type of storyline the league could throw at us.

Brighton & Hove Albion — Grade: A+

What a masterpiece of a season. Brighton didn’t just exceed expectations, they absolutely shattered them. Finishing 6th, qualifying for Europe for the first time in their history, and doing it with a brand of football that was among the most stylish and progressive in the league.

Losing Graham Potter to Chelsea in September could’ve derailed everything, but instead it unlocked the next level: Roberto De Zerbi stepped in and immediately turned Brighton into one of the most tactically fascinating sides in Europe. Kaoru Mitoma exploded onto the scene, Alexis Mac Allister became a World Cup winner and midfield metronome, and Moisés Caicedo elevated himself into an elite ball-winner.

They scored 72 goals, the club’s highest-ever top-flight total, and dominated some genuinely big sides along the way.

Season summary: Beautiful football, historic achievements, world-class scouting paying off.
Final verdict: The gold standard for smart club-building.

Chelsea — Grade: F

There’s no polite way to put it: Chelsea’s 2022/23 season was a spectacular mess.

A summer of massive spending (over £250m), a mid-season even bigger spending spree, three different managers (Tuchel, Potter, Lampard), and yet they finished 12th, their lowest league finish since 1993/94. They scored just 38 goals, fewer than every team except Wolves, Everton, and the three relegated clubs.

Despite having a squad bursting with individual talent, Chelsea looked utterly lost: no chemistry, no goal threat, no stability, no identity. Even the signings who did well individually (like Enzo Fernández) couldn’t steady the ship.

When a team spends over half a billion pounds and ends up closer to relegation than to Europe, there’s only one grade to give.

Season summary: Big money, no plan, historically poor results.
Final verdict: A season to bury deep, deep underground.

Crystal Palace — Grade: B

Palace had one of the strangest arcs of the season. Under Patrick Vieira, a brutal run of fixtures and lack of goals pushed them into relegation danger by March. They went 12 league matches without a win, and scoring looked like a monthly event rather than a weekly one.

Enter Roy Hodgson, back from retirement, and suddenly Palace were fun again, genuinely fun. Eberechi Eze became one of the league’s standout players during the run-in, Michael Olise was electric, and Palace climbed to a comfortable 11th-place finish.

They didn’t break any records or make a push for Europe, but given how anxious things felt heading into the spring, a mid-table finish with renewed optimism counts as a success.

Season summary: Wobble under Vieira, revival under Hodgson, stars emerging.
Final verdict: Solid season with a satisfying ending.

Everton — Grade: D

Everton survive, again, by the skin of their teeth.

The season summed up the club’s problems: poor recruitment, managerial churn, and a squad that simply doesn’t score enough. Frank Lampard struggled before being replaced by Sean Dyche, who ultimately dragged them over the line. The defining moment was Abdoulaye Doucouré’s thunderous goal on the final day against Bournemouth, sealing a 17th-place finish.

There were positives: Amadou Onana showed real promise, Dwight McNeil thrived under Dyche, and the team rediscovered its grit late in the campaign. But overall, Everton’s season was another brush with disaster, two relegation battles in two years for a club of their size is alarming.

Season summary: Chaotic, stressful, and rescued at the very last moment, again.
Final verdict: Survival achieved, but standards must rise.