THE NOTEBOOK: Everton appeal points deduction, Blues youngsters feature on the bench and a Ligue 1 boss watches on as Chelsea demolish the Toffees at Stamford Bridge

Cole Palmer‘s exceptional maiden season at Chelsea continued as the Blues comprehensively demolished Everton.

Mauricio Pochettino‘s side wasted little time seizing the initiative on Monday, and Palmer netted a quick-fire brace to give the Blues a comfortable lead.

A calamitous mistake from Jordan Pickford gifted Palmer his hat-trick before Nicolas Jackson made it four before half-time.

After a moment of dissent among the ranks Palmer put a cherry on top of the win from twelve yards to take his Premier League tally to 20 for the season before substitute Alfie Gilchrist completed the rout.

Mail Sport’s Kieran Gill was at Stamford Bridge to bring you eight things you might have missed.

The hosts’ 6-0 win was capped off by a first senior goal for academy graduate Alfie Gilchrist

TOFFEES APPEAL POINTS DEDUCTION 

Yesterday saw Everton officially appeal against last week’s two-point deduction, with the Premier League aiming to fast track the process so a decision is reached before the end of the season. 

The Toffees are confident that, like when they reduced a 10-point deduction to six, they can tempt the independent commission into showing them leniency. ‘Premier League, corrupt as f***,’ sang the away supporters before kick-off.

BLUES CONTINUE TO INVEST IN YOUTH 

Chelsea are searching for a youth recruitment analyst as they look to add the hottest talent to their assembly at Cobham. Certainly the club’s policy in targeting young players for the first team would be a great deal cheaper if they could snap up starlets before they begin to cost north of £40million, though a proper pathway needs to coincide. 

Last night, 17-year-old Kiano Dyer and Tyrique George, 18, made Mauricio Pochettino’s bench for the first time after impressing for the academy, while the Under-17s team were paraded at Stamford Bridge with the Premier League Cup trophy they won last week.

England youth internationals Tyrique George (centre) and Kiano Dyer (right) were named on the bench on Monday

ALLI SEES LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL 

Injuries have prevented Dele Alli from appearing in a game of football for more than a year, but he was on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football last night. Alli spoke well, saying he can see the light at the end of the tunnel, though this summer will be interesting as his Everton contract is due to expire.

STILL WATCHES ON AT THE BRIDGE 

Reims manager Will Still was spotted outside of Stamford Bridge’s press room with the 31-year-old West Ham fan taking time in between Ligue 1 games for a visit to London.

Reims boss Will Still was spotted outside of the press room at Stamford Bridge

GROUNDSMAN UNFAIRLY DISMISSED

Chelsea sacked groundsman Conor McKnight after accusing him of sending hundreds of anonymous emails – entitled ‘Chelsea Football Club Scandal: Cover Up Assault and Sexual Assault’ – claiming that they endorsed bullying, an employment tribunal heard. 

Mail Sport read through the verdict in full yesterday and found a messy situation previously kept secret, including how McKnight claimed his boss Jason Griffin had grabbed his crotch and threatened to kill him at a Christmas party in a pub in Cobham. Furious that Griffin was not fired, McKnight is said to have responded by anonymously informing others of his accusations, with the emailed recipients including other football clubs. 

McKnight was sacked with bosses noticing similarities in spelling mistakes between his own emails and those that were sent anonymously, such as ‘lying’ being spelt as ‘lieng’. A tribunal agreed that McKnight was unfairly dismissed because proper procedures were not followed, though Chelsea will not have to pay any compensation because it was decided the groundsman would have been sacked had they been.

STARS AT NON-LEAGUE

Fans of Walton & Hersham were surprised to see Cole Palmer and Levi Colwill watching their team’s 1-0 win over Sholing in the Southern League Premier South on Saturday. 

Colwill has family connections to Sholing with three of his uncles – Barry, Byron, Marvin – featuring in the 2014 FA Vase final at Wembley Stadium. Colwill, 11 at the time, was a mascot. Sadly, the still-injured 21-year-old is set to miss this Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final with Manchester City at Wembley.

Levi Colwill watched Sholing’s clash with Walton & Hersham as he continues his recovery from injury

DODGERS DESERVE CREDIT FOR TOLES

Todd Boehly is also co-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who deserve high praise for their handling of Andrew Toles, the 31-year-old from Georgia whose contract was renewed in spite of him not appearing in Major League Baseball since 2018. 

Toles has suffered from mental health struggles but every year, without fail, the Dodgers keep him on so that he can continue using their health insurance for his bipolar and schizophrenia treatment. A rare show of compassion in a money-mad sporting world.

CONTRACTS EXTENDED EVEN FURTHER

The release of the Football Association’s intermediary transactions this week showed how Chelsea have updated the contracts of Enzo Fernandez and Mykhailo Mudryk, which is believed to mean they have triggered the options to extend their stays. Strange, considering the duo were already among those tied down to remarkably long deals. Chelsea declined to provide details when contacted.

The Blues have appeared to have extended Mykhailo Mudryk and Enzo Fernandez’s contracts