Having taken over at Gloucester in 2020, the six years that followed have been full of false dawns for George Skivington.
Heavily criticised for his management of the Cherry and Whites across his tenure, Skivington's reign was personified through Gloucester's dismal eighth place Prem Rugby finish last season, which saw them almost miss out on qualification for the European Rugby Champions Cup.
11th. 5th. 10th. 9th. 5th. 8th. Of the six league finishes under Skivington, Gloucester have failed to reach the top four on any occasion and have only qualified for the Champions Cup three times. For a club the size of the Cherry and Whites, that has been unacceptable.
Despite this, Skivington's job was never under threat and - having made some strong acquisitions this summer - Gloucester are beginning to look dangerous.
In our article, in which we made one bold prediction for all 10 PREM clubs, we suggested that Gloucester could show the levels of turnaround demonstrated by Northampton Saints and Exeter last term, to leap from eighth into the play-off places.
And after two matches this campaign, it is looking increasingly likely that this could come to fruition...
Led by new signing Jac Morgan, Gloucester have earned maximum points from their opening two matches against Exeter Chiefs and Harlequins, sitting top of the standings.
While it's early days, the performances from the Cherry and Whites have been night and day from the frail side that lost 13 of 18 matches last season.
Gloucester Rugby PREM title odds
This early season form has led to Gloucester shortening in the betting to win the PREM title this campaign, with a price of 14/1 now available for Skivington's side to win the Grand Final in June.
The Cherry and Whites are now remarkably shorter than last season's losing finalists Exeter Chiefs, who themselves have struggled for any form at the start of this new season.
As a 10-team competition, the scope for struggling clubs to climb the ranks quickly has always been high - as demonstrated by the previously mentioned Northampton and Exeter of last season - and Gloucester this term could be no different.
It remains to be seen whether or not this will be just another false dawn at Kingsholm, but the early signs for Skivington's men are extremely promising.
Odds will display when markets are available and odds written in this article were correct at the time of writing and are subject to change.
