arsenal appointed bruce rioch in the summer of 1995, but houston stayed on as his assistant. just over a year after his appointment, rioch was sacked, and houston was reappointed as caretaker. arsène wenger was identified as rioch's successor in august, but arsenal were forced to wait as wenger was contracted to japanese club grampus eight. houston left arsenal in mid-september to become manager of queens park rangers, where he appointed bruce rioch as his assistant. qpr had just been relegated to the first division and were aiming for a return to the premier league. houston and rioch were sacked by qpr in november 1997, with the club sitting 13th in the first division.