ESR went to Leipzig on loan and would have played more had he not gotten injured. ESR also did start in the PL (vs Everton) before he went to Huddersfield and had a handful of sub appearances in that time as well as scoring goals in Cup competitions, so the comparison's are more than valid, they're extremely apt. So it isn't accurate to say he was much more of a first team player. He made his debut earlier, that's it. Only thing I would agree with is your 2nd paragraph. His development so far is not what I'd hoped but there's still time, and I'm quite happy for him to go to the Championship because he needs guaranteed football, fitness and confidence - just like ESR needed when he went on loan. Given the quality players that have come from the Championship in recent seasons, I don't think we need to quibble too much about the level either.
Absolutely. Nelson's confidence has taken hit after hit since returning from Germany and a good stretch of regular football at a Championship team is the tonic needed. He needed this loan at the beginning of the season but 6 months is fine. He should be looking to sharpen his end product, get a run of starts and look to make a strong impact on matches and sustain that impact. If he can do that on loan then he'll be in a much better position when he returns - confident, and hopefully back to normal.
