sorry Sir... I mean Badge
I actually belief that a spell in league 1 or 2 (where actually more teams than previously play a bit now) will help toughen them up a bit. One of the downfalls of the old "reserve" league is the lack of opportunity to play some tough physical games. It is hard to get the balance, but an element of that does help.
Viera has recently come out to say he believes English teams should have B teams and the u21s is not fit for purpose.
Reed has said in the past that he prefered to keep players in house than send them on loan. Though that policy has clearly been scrapped. However his reasoning was because he wanted to control the coaching and the monitoring of the players development.
The correct pathway for development is probably a mixture and the education should be varied.