To be completely honest, I think a team retreat would be great for the player, but terrible for the game. For me a lot of the appeal with the game is the tension when you send out your beloved villagers. If you can instantly recall them at any time, that tension would disappear completely. Seeing one of your units have low health but high morale, and slowly getting chopped to death is absolutely horrible, but the game becomes so much better thanks to it.
Personal sponsor is a pretty good idea, and I'd love to see more management of the village itself. Maybe putting heroes behind the counter of the shops could be cool?