Following their 6–0 defeat to Liverpool on 1 September 2007, Irish bookmakers Paddy Power decided to pay out on the club to be relegated after just five games of the new season.

[5] Meanwhile, results on the pitch were not improving, with another poor performance away to Aston Villa followed up by a 5–0 home defeat against a West Ham United side ravaged by injuries.

Within two days of Davies's dismissal, on 26 November 2007, Derby appointed highly rated former Wigan Athletic manager Paul Jewell.

[citation needed] Jewell was busy in the January 2008 transfer window, selling several players and bringing eight new players in, namely Everton defender Alan Stubbs,[12] Argentine striker Emanuel Villa,[13] ex-England international defender Danny Mills on loan from Manchester City, Blackburn midfielder Robbie Savage,[14] French winger Laurent Robert, Tottenham's Egyptian midfielder Hossam Ghaly on loan,[15] Gençlerbirliği's Mile Sterjovski[16] and Rangers goalkeeper Roy Carroll.

[17] On 28 January 2008, it was announced that Derby had been purchased by American group General Sports and Entertainment, with Tom Glick taking the role of new President and Chief Executive.

Poor results continued: a 6–0 home defeat at the hands of Aston Villa on 12 April 2008 is the biggest defeat at Pride Park and, by the season's end, Derby had recorded the Premier League's lowest points total[19] and equalled Loughborough's 108-year Football League record of going through an entire season with only one win.