Everton boss David Moyes' mood contrasted sharply with that of opposite number Phil Brown, who has steadied the Hull ship in recent weeks after his job appeared to be on the line.
The Tigers’ boss has seen his side collect two wins and a draw since he was widely reported to be one bad result away from the sack earlier this month.
After the 3-2 win against Moyes’ struggling Everton, Brown said: "I think it was a deserved win, even though Everton scored two goals in the second half.
"People might have been nervous at 3-2 but I wasn't unduly worried, I thought we still had a grip on the game. Collectively, defensively we were very good in the first half.
"The second half was a different ball game and an own goal unhinges you to a certain extent. But we stuck at the task and thoroughly deserved the victory."
Brown rested Jimmy Bullard, despite his inspiration performances against Stoke and West Ham. Brown said: "The lad's in a new area of his rehabilitation.
"It was just a precautionary resting and fortunately it has worked for everybody. It now gives me a bit of a headache for Saturday, but they are the kind of headaches you want."
Moyes said: "We didn't play well enough to win, that sums it up really. The performance was shocking.
"I don't think it was anything to do with confidence, it was to do with endeavour and attitude, which Hull City showed.
"If we had matched Hull's endeavour and attitude - they ran around and it earned them something at the end of the night. “
