I also thought Angel/Cordelia could have been interesting but was so badly done it was better not to have done it at all. I also agree with your point about it being a disservice to Cordelia's character to have her be so clueless about her feelings for Angel.

It would have made much more sense for Cordelia to be well aware of her feelings (let's face it, she was attracted to Angel right from the start) but be too practical and decisive to follow a path she already saw Buffy tread with disastrous results. A relationship with Angel would be problematic for anyone. Nina can be forgiven for not understanding how challenging it can be, but Cordelia can't pretend not to know.

Many good points raised, nice job!