It can be sometimes confusing and disturbing that commanders are chosen, selected and trained because they have demonstrated that characteristic of being able to make competent decisions under different levels of stress: plus of course being cognisant with SOP's and one would hope standard handling capabilities.
Then, the desk jockeys make SOP's that, at real time, do not seem to be the best choice to handle the situation. However, the commander's decision making discretion is confined to the trash. Bring on the single pilot and dog. Why have a commander and then handcuff them?
Oh, and then when the poo hits the air-conditioning in a non SOP environment, the commander is expected to magic-up a solution.
"We legislate for every contingency." Follow the SOP with a truly missionary zeal and nothing can ever go wrong."
There are those who do just that, except it's impossible. The real world does not operate to the plans & whims of the SOP department. It is trying to find loopholes and cracks in your operation all the time. The SOP guru & trained monkey philosophy can succeed on an ideal day; but how many of those are there? That method of operating tends to be reactive, not proactive. One of the prime characteristics of good crews was to be proactive to prevent the problem occurring. That requires not only monitoring of trends drifting from the norm, but being well ahead of the a/c and even preventing the trend starting. It's called being 'on top of things with an eye on the ball'. That type of pilot is in decline because they believe the SOP's will provide a protective bubble, and the a/c has so many automatic warnings & back up systems that human monitoring is not required.
This long landing warning being a mandatory SOP was also highlighted at MAN and caused, what some believe, to be an unnecessary diversion to LHR. Should it be an advisory? Was it designed to be an advisory? There have been comments that modern electronics and systems were designed as an aid & tool, not to be in command. Some SOP's have not followed that format. We all know computers can hiccup. What we need are pilots who do not.