Jake's Road Report is Gemini Sports founder Jake Schuster’s weekly update from professional football's frontlines. He travels globally, meeting club executives to share candid insights on AI's role in football. These raw, actionable thoughts are delivered weekly, with meeting details kept confidential and specific intel omitted.
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"We're doing the best we can with what we have."
This was something I heard from a head scout at a major European club recently, and it perfectly encapsulates a mindset I believe is holding our industry back. In one sentence, he revealed how comfortable football has become with mediocrity in the areas that matter most.
I keep encountering clubs that are "blissfully fine" with having their data analytics and scouting reports operating in completely separate silos. They've convinced themselves fragmented information systems represent the cutting edge of modern recruitment. They haven't just accepted this dysfunction—they've rationalized it as inevitable.
This worldview is, frankly, insane.
I've spoken with countless execs who treat data insights and human intelligence as incompatible elements rather than complementary tools that should amplify each other. To me, it's unacceptable for anyone in professional football to make million-dollar decisions without having all relevant information in one integrated system.
The standards in our industry make me wonder if people want to actually be innovative, or simply appear innovative. Perhaps they'd rather stay cocooned in their comfort zones with familiar Tableau dashboards and Excel spreadsheets than confront the reality that their current approach isn't remotely up to standard.
When will everyone admit that "good enough" isn't good enough? When will everyone hold themselves to the standards their responsibility demands? People say they want to excel in their role. They claim to feel a responsibility to deliver the best possible outcomes for their club. Yet they’re content with siloed information, basic visualization tools, and processes that actively prevent them from seeing the complete picture.
If you genuinely want to be the best at your job—and your club deserves nothing less—you need the best technology available. You can’t afford to settle for systems that are "just okay," and you can’t afford to wait until it's convenient to upgrade.
The truth is, it will never be convenient. Excellence never is. It’s difficult and it’s rare. But the cost of mediocrity in modern football is measured in missed opportunities, failed signings and squandered potential.
Your players deserve better. Your fans deserve better. Your club deserves better. You deserve better.
Stop settling.
