Hi DozyWannabe,
So what you mean is "I prefer a conventional control column"
under certain circumstances like direct law - yes. Otherwise conventional aircraft would have adopted side stick controls for weight saving and reduced engineering complexity years ago.
This AC series is designed around Normal Law - and the side stick works brilliantly well when used in this law. If the autopilot had simply disengaged with Normal Law still active - PF would not have had any difficulty keeping it straight and level.
I don't have any personal bugbears - I'm trying to explain why I think the PF had so much difficulty in hand flying in ALT LAW at high altitude.