Dario Vidosic had told his new charges at Brighton & Hove Albion they should be thinking of winning the title as he embarked upon his first season as a manager in England's Women's Super League.
If that seemed rather ambitious for a club that came ninth on the 12-team ladder last year it appears more plausible now after a 4-0 opening day victory.
Brighton swept Everton aside at Crawley Town's Broadfield Stadium with new Japanese signing Kiko Seike scoring an excellent hat-trick.
England star Fran Kirby, recruited in the summer from Chelsea, scored Albion's other goal as they made the perfect start.
There was a less happy start to the campaign for Matilda Katrina Gorry.
Captaining West Ham United for the first time she was part of a team beaten 3-0 by Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Brighton's opener came when Seike caught Elise Stenevik in possession after half-an-hour then chipped goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan from 25 yards
After the break Seike added a second with a header from Poppy Pattinson's cross and, after a Kirby penalty, completed her treble with a superb drive from range after more sloppy defending.
"It's that old cliché of one game at a time but you still have to enjoy those wins," said former Melbourne City women's coach Vidosic.
"The message was simple. Just be brave, play our football.
"Football is a funny sport. You can be the best team and lose so we were always more focused on just having a positive performance. When you do that, you get rewards and the ladies got that today. I'm really pleased for them."
Earlier on Saturday in Manchester, Geyse, Leah Galton and Grace Clinton scored as Hammers, who only won three matches last season, made a worrying start.
Only one team is relegated, and newly-promoted Crystal Palace are the favourites to go down, but West Ham are at risk.
Defending champions Chelsea began with a 1-0 win over Aston Villa on Friday - with the injured Matildas skipper Sam Kerr in the crowd.
On Sunday their biggest rivals, Arsenal and Manchester City, meet at the Emirates with five Australian internationals likely to feature - Caitlin Foord, Steph Catley, Kyra Cooney-Cross (all Arsenal) Mary Fowler and Alanna Kennedy (City).
