Marchionne's track record with operational turnarounds was a little more patchy than his dealmaking.

But although house prices have stabilised, other signs of a healthy economy look far more patchy.

You're right, it does look more patchy than a German heavy metal fan's sleeveless denim jacket.

Debelle said progress elsewhere had been more patchy.

Reuters witnesses saw some city blocks completely leveled, though in other areas the damage was more patchy.

Christianity, which is strongly identified with in the rest of the country, has a more patchy existence here.

But afterwards the support is more patchy -with the result that the offender sometimes drifts back to old haunts and reoffends.

Beyond 300 million years ago, the ancient magnetic record becomes much more patchy, so it is difficult to find hard evidence of continental movements.

The reality is that general practice workload has become a lot more complex over the last two decades, and hospital support has become more patchy.