Pat Fenlon paid tribute to his Hibernian players' "great character" after two goals by Leigh Griffiths gave them a 2-1 win over St Mirren.
Last season proved to be a dreadful one for Hibs with a second-bottom finish followed by a 5-1 thumping by Edinburgh rivals Hearts in the Scottish Cup final.
The 2012-13 campaign started off badly as well with a 3-0 defeat by Dundee United.
However, a change in tactics and three goals in two games for Griffiths has given the Easter Road fans some cause for optimism after they followed up their opening points of the season in a draw with Hearts with victory.
Fenlon brought in eight new faces over the summer but it might be a more mature Griffiths, whose appalling disciplinary record left him sidelined with lengthy suspensions last season, that proves to be his greatest asset.
The Hibs boss was also honest to take some blame for the poor start and said: "Managers are quick to blame players but maybe you have to hold your hands up as a manager and say I got it wrong.
"Maybe I got it wrong with the formation at Tannadice and didn't press the ball enough.
"But after the cup final defeat and the loss to United the players have shown great character to come back in the last two games."
Fenlon recognised the worth of Griffiths' two goals which should have given Hibs a comfortable lead - before Steven Thompson pulled one back for Saints to give the Edinburgh side some anxious closing minutes.
It is not only the Hibs boss though who appreciates the talents of his on-loan striker, as captain James McPake, who made his own move permanent over the summer, reflected on his team-mate's development since they were both at Livingston.
"He was 16 and a silly wee laddie," said McPake. "But you knew then he had the talent to go far. I can see a difference in him even in training.
"I know he is on loan from Wolves who are a big club but looking at him now he can go on to even bigger things. He's as good as anything in Scotland as his three goals in the last two games have shown."
St Mirren boss Danny Lennon was not as happy having just watched his side slip to their first defeat of the season but he was much more concerned about the injury to Darren McGregor.
"It is not looking too good for Darren and he is very distraught after fighting back from a cruciate knee injury last season," said Lennon.
"Although it is too early to say, it looks like he has done the other knee but we have a fantastic medical team here and he is a great character so I'm sure he will come through this again."
The Buddies boss was less sympathetic towards his team, adding: "I thought we were poor in the first half in terms of our football quality and work rate.
"But I could not ask for any more in the second half - except maybe another goal."
Paul McGowan might have given him that other goal in the first half to cancel out Griffiths' first but the former Celtic player missed from the penalty spot.
"It is the first time I have missed a penalty," said McGowan. "But I knew as soon as I hit it that it was a poor penalty."
He was also unconvinced about his side's performance.
"We kept firing balls in to our two big target men and on another day the ball might have gone in - but despite taking four points so far, we haven't really started well and we are still not out of third gear," he added.
"We just have to put this behind us and bounce back against Motherwell next week."
