Thanks again for your thoughts guys.
Bingofuel, is your point not covered by:
"The RPM and hence RoD should be adjusted to take account of crosswinds. A tightening crosswind will require a reduced RPM/ increased RoD, and a slackening crosswind will require increased RPM/reduced RoD."
It would be useful to have some rules of thumb for how much to adjust the power, and rate of descent, mind you.
Genghis, I take your point about flying by numbers, but I guess that cuffing it requires judgement and experience, which is lacking in inexperienced pilots, therefore it's good to give them a framework to hang their hats on. I'd put myself in that category, with regard to this type of flying anyway. I've been a trainee and trainer in several different flying disciplines, and have always found that walking before running is best. Maybe I’m too institutionalised, but I don’t feel right now that I have the experience to make it up as I go along, and really want someone to tell me what I should be aiming for; even if achieving it in the real world is a little challenging.
My instructors seem to think that I don’t need any instructing, probably giving too much credit for my experience in other types of flying. But without that experience, I’d be really bemused right now!
I guess what I really want is a student study guide like we gave to ab-initio pilots in the RAF.