Tottenham's Micky van de Ven said it was "embarrassing" the club were left needing a result on the final day against Everton, while their head coach Roberto De Zerbi said it's his mission to "stop the suffering at the club" after they preserved their Premier League status with a 1-0 victory on Sunday.
João Palhinha's 42nd minute goal was enough to secure Spurs' top flight status for another season, as they clinched just their third victory in the league at home this term. The result consigned West Ham to the Championship, but Van de Ven gave Spurs a reality check post-match.
"It is unacceptable that the last game we played this season we play for relegation," Van de Ven told the BBC. "This club has some unbelievable players. It was embarrassing to let it come to the final day but we did it and that is what is important."
De Zerbi said pre-match that the team were playing for something far more important than silverware when they hosted Everton on Sunday: dignity. Having preserved their dignity, now he wants the end the suffering at the club.
"I am happy but I enjoyed today, football is nice," De Zerbi said. "If you give your best, maybe today, you receive everything back from football. We deserve this win, this game, we deserve everything from today. I think we deserved to stay up, we made 11 points in seven games and we deserved more. My players played a fantastic game with spirit, attitude.
"In the first half we played very well. Now tonight we have to organise and build a new team. We don't have to change too many players. We have 10/11/12 players good enough to stay, both as players and people.
"Then we have to complete the squad with first level of players because we suffered too much. The players they suffer too much. We are Tottenham and we can't suffer like this until the last second and last game and I will be stronger. My target was staying up, and my target is to start the pre-season with a team I have in my dream."
On the fans, De Zerbi said: "I am happy for them and next season the target is to make them happier than this season for sure. I would like to compete, but stop the suffering here."
And when asked if he could promise Spurs fans they'd never be back in this situation again, De Zerbi said: "Listen, it is difficult to promise because the Premier League is very tough league. We have to learn from our mistakes we have done this season. Now we are happy as we stayed up -- stupid people forget the past. Smart people can't forget the past and we have to improve from our mistakes and we have to look forward to start being a team from this night. We have no time to go on holiday."
De Zerbi added he was keen on Spurs signing Palhinha on a permanent deal, and was also delighted with Antonin Kinsky's performance.
As for his own role in keeping Spurs up, he said it was the biggest achievement of his career.
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Meanwhile, Everton head coach David Moyes said he was "pissed" with his side's defeat.
"We didn't play well in the first half, we were resilient enough not to let Tottenham go further ahead, we were the better team for the last 20 minutes," Moyes said.
"We made sure Tottenham didn't get too much but we didn't get many opportunities until the last few minutes when we brought on the young players."
And regarding his former team West Ham's relegation, Moyes said: "Disappointed for them, you forget what it feels like or for the people behind the scenes. Take a dose of medicine and get back. They'll be back, get them ready for when they get back and prepare them again."