splutter

He flung himself down on the bank, flopped over on his back, legs and arms outstretched, and spluttered some disconnected words.

Coughing and spluttering his way through a parliamentary health committee meeting, a clearly irritated Dr Svoboda questioned why he had to be there in the first place.

While Celtic have spluttered, Rangers have motored since Philippe Clement took charge.

Added to that, the once seemingly unstoppable machine of the Chinese economy is spluttering and stalling with record-high youth unemployment, tech sector layoffs and a housing crisis.

Now the engines are spluttering, and rather than establishing his new leadership Mr Yousaf faces questions about how he will turn things around.