David Jeffrey heaped praise on his Linfield players after they emphatically ended their losing run with a thumping 4-0 win at Solitude.
The Blues had suffered four straight defeats but they charged back into the JJB Sports Premiership title picture by poaching four first-half goals.
"The players responded magnificently. They have been stung by the criticisms," said the Linfield boss.
"But we stick together as a group whether it is players or staff."
Jeffrey added:"We told the players that you don't became bad players overnight.
"We were going through a difficult period but the only way out of it is to work desperately hard and battle. They did that this evening.
"In the first half in particular, there wasn't a first ball or a second ball, that we didn't challenge for and the quality of the goals was excellent.
"I've been loyal to certain individuals who have been playing on a regular basis but I felt that they have let me down"
"I'm desperately proud of my players."
In contrast, Eddie Patterson slammed his side for their "atrocious defending" and hinted that his side for Saturday's game against Ballymena United could be much-changed.
"There were four crosses into the box in the first half which our defenders didn't deal with," said the Cliftonville boss.
"People who were delegated to pick certain people up didn't react to the original ball in and others didn't react to the second phase ball either."
Patterson added:"I've been loyal to certain individuals who have been playing on a regular basis but I felt that they have let me down.
"I'll have to look at the drawing board and see where things went wrong and deal with that over the next couple of days."
The defeat was doubly disappointing for the Reds as they were making their return to their redeveloped home venue.
"The support was fantastic tonight and it always is but they were also let down tonight," added Patterson.
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