I don't think they changed training speed. How old are your players? What trainer level? And are they near their cap?
In my experience, Pa doesn't train really fast though, usually the easier pops are in handling/driving (for outside skills), and I think rebound trains a bit faster than ID/IS.
As far as blank lineups, they made some changes a few years ago, can't remember the specifics because I don't use them, but in essence I think they broke it as too many people were using it. You'll have to dig into the forums for that