Jackie McNamara branded the first half against Hamilton as the worst display of his time as Dundee United manager after crashing to a 4-0 defeat in the Scottish Premiership.
Accies headed into the match without a win – or even a goal – this season.
But they produced a rampant performance that saw Ali Crawford, Lucas Tagliapietra, Carlton Morris and Christian Nade claim a goal apiece.
The loss at New Douglas Park followed the midweek derby draw against Dundee which saw United concede two late goals.
Reflecting on the reverse at Accies, McNamara said: “In the first half we were terrible. They were first to everything and bullied us.
“We gifted them a few goals as well. The first half was the worst in my time here and they looked a lot fresher not having had the midweek game.
“Excuses aside you have to earn the right to play football.
“You can’t just turn up and start passing and moving, especially coming to places like this where they are fighting for everything.”
McNamara was the subject of chants by away supporters early in the second half, with United already trailing by three goals.
He added: “It is part and parcel of football. I have been called a lot worse.
“As disappointed as they are watching the first half, I am as angry as them.”
Accies were widely tipped by pundits for relegation before a ball was even kicked this season.
But player-boss Martin Canning believes they showed against United they have plenty to build on and can feel positive about the campaign ahead.
He said: “It puts that goalless and winless thing to bed now.
“There is a long season to go and this is just one performance. What it does though, is give us a platform to build on and a benchmark to try to hit every week.
“If the boys can get this sort of workrate into their game, with the quality we have got, there is no doubt we will win matches.
“There is enough experience and professionalism for them to see the games out.
“It was a good performance against United and it’s nice to sit here and talk about a positive result.
“We got our goals and that changed the game.”