All very well put. I agree and think this is the case for pretty much all of the Doctors. You can look at all of them and see this same process.
That's it. We had Rose to bridge the gap between Nine and Ten, but with Eleven we got new *everything* along with a new Doctor, so many new fans, not familiar with the old show, felt very unsure.

Add to that the distaste he seems to have for himself when he runs in to other regenerations. Excepting Ten and Five becasue well, Ten would be pretty well saturated with nostalgia.
Oh he would rather. *pets Ten* (And oh, I wish there was a way for Ten and Eleven to meet... *deep sigh*)