Lonewolf 50;
Basic pilot skills tell you that if you have not yet changed power, nor configuration, your speed and altitude are trade offs for one another. Set an attitude, see what changes, adjust, see what changes, adjust, and so on. You are back to straight and level soon enough.
Yes - and this is what the FCTM on Unreliable Airspeed describes; small adjustments, wait...etc
I get the impression that flying the bird/FPV seems to have replaced a basic instrument scan.
Possibly. Not all transport pilots are familiar with the indication and so it requires training to use effectively and safely. It's a trajectory indicator as we know, (which is why it is removed upon selecting TOGA on a G/A) and while useful in some circumstances it has to be used in conjunction with energy awareness and not used alone to fly the aircraft. I still find it difficult to accept that pilots at this level would follow the flight directors and compromise the energy level of the aircraft but I think a valid point has been made during these discussions.
On your last comment, no, I don't think airline managements comprehend the value of raw data/manual flying practise. I think management awareness atrophies as financial constraints and complex simulator scripts combine over time to push out "that which pilots ought to know already", to concentrate on the competent management of autoflight systems in normal and abnormal flight circumstances.
In my experience, mere "practise" was sometimes given by individual instructors who knew its value but only when the script had been finished. Box-ticking has its value if the boxes are appropriate to training requirements and ensuring standards are met but manual flight and raw-data approaches are usually left out of the session. I think the need has been amply demonstrated and hopefully a refocus on the basics, as you describe them, is occurring. I've been away from it now for five years and no longer have a close sense of these sets of priorities.