There were a fair few raised eyebrows when NRL basement boys South Sydney Rabbitohs recruited Jason Taylor as Shaun McRae’s assistant coach. The punters were eager for bookmakers to open the bets on the first managerial casualty for 2007.

Soon enough, Souths CEO Shane Richardson,a long-time admirer of ‘Bomber’ McCrae, offered his old friend a new challenge; a lucrative position on the sports administration ladder – the dreaded ‘director of football’. Thus, it cast the first bong of the death knell for the former Hull FC and St Helens coach.

Naturally, Souths promptly installed their new recruit, Taylor, as head coach. On the face of it, it was not a surprise decision. Taylor, who took the reigns at Parramatta when Brian Smith left halfway through 2006, led the Eels to a previously unlikely top-eight finals placing – thanks to a nine-match winning streak. The Rabbitohs are now hoping that the rookie coach will weave a similar spell with the wooden spoon incumbents.

It might seem a tad harsh on McRae, shoved aside after just one season in one of the toughest jobs in the NRL. However, like most professional sports, when results are the mainstay of the business, clubs ultimately judge coaches by their team’s performance. Although rather than just being sacked, a gut wrencher in its own right, the offer to a respected coach of a ‘move upstairs’ is an added twist of the knife. Et tu, Shane?

It was obviously a tough personal task for Richardson to promote/demote his good friend. It was effectively a sacking without actually being sacked. The lessened stigma didn’t prevent McRae from being thoroughly cut-up over the affair; as he last barely a couple of months in his new role before leaving to pursue a coaching role elsewhere.

There must be a plethora of examples where the director of football/general manager/technical director (*delete as appropriate) and head coach relationship works. Yet we scarcely remember these successful working relationships. Those that soured are the ones that make an embossed imprint on our memories.

Remember back in 1996, when John Dorahy and Alex Murphy were pulling the strings at Warrington? Who was in charge there? I doubt they even knew themselves. The idea was that Dorahy was the coach, picking the team, with Murphy operating as the ‘technical director’, whatever that means. Any club that employs Alex Murphy with a mere hint of a coaching brief surely knows that he plays second fiddle to nobody. Plus, he's an absolute dream for the press.

Despite this, the two turned Warrington from relegation candidates to top four material and Dorahy always insisted that the working relationship was harmonious. In fact so fruitful that it could not prevent rumours of a rift week-in week-out on the terraces. Of course, the relationship didn’t last much longer than a year.

What about when Leeds Rhinos appointed Tony Smithas head coach in 2003? The idea pitched to public was that Daryll Powell would move ‘upstairs’ into a directorial role for two years while Smith would took the coaching reigns. Then, after two years, Powell would return to the head coach role. No, it didn’t make much sense then, either.

What if Leeds were successful in the time under Smith; would they re-instate Powell? Of course not, it’s tantamount to commercial suicide. And here we are four years on; Smith is still Rhinos head coach and Powell is plying his coaching trade at the club’s Union outlet – Leeds Tykes. Rather than having the guts to say to Powell, ‘Thanks for memories, here are your cards and pay in lieu’, Leeds shifted him into a pseudo position – a kind of Area 51 where coaching relics are there to be forgotten.

There is no sport more than football where such relationships are so prevalent, and so controversial. Even now, there are rumours of a rift between Chelsea’s football manager Jose Mourinho and scouting director Frank Arnesen. It is hard to comprehend that owner Roman Abramovich would sacrifice Mourinho in favour of Arnesen’s thoughts on player recruitment. But that’s how the rumour has it…

The Roy Evans vs Gerard Houlliersaga at Liverpool is the flagship case; the benchmark to which such coaching relationships are measured. The Merseyside club offered Evans, a club stalwart, some managerial help in the shape of the Frenchman,  employed not in a fabricated role, but as co-manager of Liverpool. Two men co-working in the same role – it is a flawless recipe for conflict.

There was only one loser here and that was Evans. Rather than let a well-liked and loyal employee like Evans go, they drafted Houllier alongside him, surely knowing that it wouldn’t work and Evans would himself despair over the relationship. That is exactly what happened; despite a good start together, a disagreement over team selection sealed the partnership’s fate and Evans soon walked out. Obviously, Liverpool never sought a replacement and gave Houllier sole responsibility for team matters.

Can two people run the same team? Let Sportingo.com have your views.