Open letter from our owner

The watch market has taken a bit of a tumble but still worth keeping hold of a desirable one 

😂😂😂. Good one 

Due to my past, I know a few who are very, no, extremely well off but none of them would dream of asking for advice BUT I do understand that, for some, it feels good to have their wealth acknowledged and it doesn’t bother me one bit. What does worry me are some of the latter type can sometimes be a bit naive in who they divulge what they have and certain situations/places where it would be best not to show that wealth. 
For example, a couple who wear very rare time pieces to white collar boxing. I understand wanting to show wealth but not putting yourself on show in front of the very people who are most likely to steal. 
Personal shoppers have been a thing for years, I do not see any problem in asking a trusted person but only if you do not know the market. Horologists normally are, in my experience, well researched. The majority of those I know tend to buy as an investment. 
It does no harm and if you are asked, at least you can live vicariously via the buyer. 
What really grinds my gears are two who buy Hypercars, only to put 3000 miles on them, in 3 years. If I could afford one, you can bet I’d be going to track days and be part of the clubs that organise events and go away, all over the world 

Rolex GMT II's are still making strong money (Premium of about 6k over list minimum depending on colour choice) as are Daytona's which are currently £15k over list minimum.  

Richard Mille are making a fortune now.

I hope so KP.  Perhaps he might also realise that the 5% of fans Swiss listed arent mugs and wont treat us in that way either.

'Completely different' - Hussain AlSaeed lifts lid on Bristol Rovers' summer transfer ethos..by Daniel Hargraves.

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Hussain AlSaeed expects Bristol Rovers' squad to look "completely different" come the start of the 2024/25 season in August after what is expected to be an extremely busy summer transfer window.

The Gas currently have 13 permanently contracted players on expiring deals, although some have options to extend within their agreements, while there are six loanees who will return to their parent clubs. On top of that, the chairman recently outlined the club's plan to secure promotion to the Championship within the next three years and therefore investment into the playing squad is expected to be made over the course of the summer.

Kamil Conteh's arrival from Grimsby Town in January has been flagged as the type of signing Rovers would like to continue making with the 21-year-old a raw talent with an abundance of potential and will no doubt continue to rise up the football pyramid down the line which will, hopefully, turn a healthy profit for the Gas eventually.
Future recruitment has been a hot topic of late and will no doubt continue to be throughout the remainder of the current campaign with the Rovers chairman, when asked about how different the squad will look next season by BBC Radio Bristol, declaring: "Completely different. I think we have different strategies that we are going to implement and I think that’s a good chance for Matt and the team to have the squad they’re looking for and the players they want so I think it’s coming at a good time.

"We will be concentrating on young talent. Certainly the average age will be lower and this what we are going to concentrate on. You see what we signed in the last window, Conteh, the age of 21 and that’s the sort of age we’re looking for. A younger team that we can build and take us through to the next three to five years."

According to Transfermarkt, the current average age of the squad is 25.1 with midfielder and captain Sam Finley, striker John Marquis, homegrown defender Luca Hoole and winger Scott Sinclair are amongst the high profile names with current contracts set to expire in the summer. Additionally, top scorer Chris Martin, versatile defender Josh Grant and current first choice goalkeeper and academy product Jed Ward all have options in their current contracts to extend despite their deals expiring this summer.

Furthermore, 36-year-old George Friend signed a contract until the end of the season when joining on a free transfer last summer but is expected to retire to take a boardroom role.

Although AlSaeed revealed that the plan is to bring down the average age of the squad, Matt Taylor reinforced the fact that maintaining experienced heads in his roster and finding the right balance is important. "Youth and energy is part of it but you need to balance it off so you need the senior ones," the Gas boss insisted. "You can't get anywhere with just young players, you've got to get the balance right."

Who will lead recruitment has been a topic of concern since the departure of Head of Football Operations Eddy Jennings at the back end of last year. However, it certainly sounds as though that's a problem that has been solved, to some extent at least.

After Bristol Live revealed that Friend is expected to retire from playing and join the board in a senior recruitment role, AlSaeed was asked about recruitment staff, adding: "We don’t have to look outside too much, I think it’s all in house. We have a good player who has been with us and I think he’s getting ready to take the job. Probably Monday they will announce it.

"I think he’s got the character, the experience, the relationship. I met with the owners respective and the managers and all that and I think he will do a good job in that position."

That particular appointment is yet to be officially confirmed by the club at the time of writing but the 36-year-old has plenty of business experience based on his LinkedIn profile, being owner and director of GKI Sporting Investments.

Who will lead recruitment has been a topic of concern since the departure of Head of Football Operations Eddy Jennings at the back end of last year. However, it certainly sounds as though that's a problem that has been solved, to some extent at least.

The Kuwaiti also reinforced his support of Taylor who the Gas board are prepared to support in order to build his own team to guide the Pirates towards where they want to be. As things stand, only one permanently contracted player was signed during the 42-year-old's tenure and therefore the summer proves to be the first real opportunity for the Rovers manager to start sculpting his squad in a way he sees fit in order to be successful.

Already there have been signs of the improvement the former Rotherham United and Exeter City boss will bring to the club through statement wins against the likes of Portsmouth and Bolton Wanderers but has evidently been frustrated at times with factors out of his control, such as repeated injury issues, and hasn't hidden away from the fact that change is needed, although emphasising that too much too soon isn't sustainable.

On Taylor and backing him for the push for Championship football, AlSaeed said: "It’s only been two months. He needs more time. Definitely. A lot of the players were here before he came so we can’t really judge him at the moment. He’s doing a decent job so far with what we have. A lot of injuries as well did not help.

"January was difficult and I think he needs a window or two in order to build his team but we’re behind him and we’re supporting him to really make that effort and go through hopefully.

"We are going to do all we can to get there within that three year parameters. I think it is achievable, it's nothing out of the line, but we are doing a lot of things behind the scenes that perhaps the fans are not realising. The infrastructure, the club itself, the personnel, so many things that is going on that perhaps the fans can't see.

"I think we are very confident that we will do our best to give a good team, a competitive team and I think we’ll get there hopefully."

'Twas amusing listening to the interviews as we drove home on Saturday evening...

Firstly a re-run of Hussain AlSaeed pre-match interview, where he talks about the plan to get the average age of the squad down. Then not long afterwards, in Matt Taylor's post-match interview, the plan is mentioned to him and his first reaction is "Who's told you that?" :-)

Good for Taylor he then goes on to say you need a balance in the side. As most would agree, a mixture of youth and experience is the way to go.

And the AlSaeed interview gives away the fact that George Friend will be the new Head of Recruitment, when it wasn't supposed to be announced until Monday.
(Well, it's Monday today and haven't seen an official announcement!)

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0h9rsv5
23.20 = Re-run of part of Hussain AlSaeed pre-match interview.
37.00 = Start of Matt Taylor's post-match interview.
39.55 = Matt Taylor's reaction to the interviewer saying we've heard the likelihood is next season the average age of the squad will come down next season.

Who knows eh ? but this one might actually walk the walk.

I have to be careful but I inherited one , I very rarely wear it though and normally use my Tag or Breitling. I keep being told not to sell the Rolex. I love IWC watches personally as I see so many wearing Rolex now. The green faced Daytona is one of the few I really do like