Typically, those that 'prefer' to argue about their revulsion at having 'young' inexperienced First Officers are the same ones that most Captains, young or old, experienced or inexperienced, can't stand spending long periods with on the flight deck. You only have to listen to Cap56 and you'd think he was an experienced jet CAPTAIN!
There can be little worse for anyone, Captain or First Officer to have to listen to someone pontificating from a position they don't have the credibility to claim to be coming from. A bit like listening to a "Jack of all trades, master of none"!
As has been pointed out already and suitably ignored by those that like the sound of their own voices, the F/O had two years of experience on the B757. Where he started from is irrelevant and yet we have 'pseudo experts' trying to tell us how terrible it is to have to fly with a cadet pilot. If the F/O had been only just released from line training, maybe, just maybe, there may have been a point to be raised but in this instance the F/O performed appropriately and according to the book.
So, would the pontiff (and I think we all know who we are talking about) please go back to lambasting other airlines about how to fly into Johannesburg on a hot night. The lecture on cockpit gradient (an inverse one in this case) would be better applied to a situation where an F/O was driving his Captain to distraction with his self deduced gospel about how he thinks it should all be done.
The Gerona accident was just that, an accident. It wasn't one single causal factor but a number of them, as in just about all accidents. We, as pilots hope to learn from them. Anyone who tries to use the information to pontificate about how it should be done will probably find themselves being knocked off their pedestals. This accident could have happened to any one of us, including the pontificators. Line up enough holes in the Swiss Cheese and, as we have learnt from this one, the brown stuff can and will hit the fan. Third night flight in a row is not where you want to be when you can see through the cheese.