Steff Wright did explain the 'Director of Football' title for John Deehan in a recent interview. As I understand his comments they wanted a mentor for John Schoefield, a proven and able football coach trying to make the step up to management. The title of DoF was mainly a convenience and was not intended to be permanent. Where the concept was flawed in my view was that when JD took a back step at the start of the season JS had no Assistant Manager to help out.
There is a school of thought that JS was too nice to the players, bourne out prehaps by the blood and thunder approach to Saturdays match which was a pleasure to watch and got the Co-op stand to their feet for the first time in recent history.
I hope along with many others that JS gets a job quickly and will be able to learn from his experience to bounce back into management. He certainly has age on his side.