[OLD REGGIE]

Pope "owns" the Bishops in that he has sole authority to hire and fire them

Eh, no. A bishop is a bishop and remains a bishop till he dies, not unlike any royalty. Appointment and removal of bishops to dioceses is a complex and collegial process, which is not to the sole discretion of the Pope. He certainly cannot remove a bishop at will -- I wish he removed quite a few, in this country, by the way.

Bishop is not a job, -- bishops do not get hired or fired.

Appointment of Catholic bishops

Despite the sham of a "... complex and collegial process" the Supreme Pontiff is the boss and only he can remove, "put on the shelf", and reassign Bishops.

[annalex]

the Supreme Pontiff is the boss and only he can remove, "put on the shelf", and reassign Bishops

I did not dispute that part. I simply want to point out that the Church does not operate as a top-down command structure, like a military. The governing principle is subsidiarity: the decisions are made at the lowest instance capable in principle of making the decision.