The former England striker is praying that two of his old teams, Leicester City and West Ham, can complete dream campaigns. Leicester, where he played for three seasons, are on the verge of winning their first top-flight English title, while his hometown Hammers are on course for a finish high enough to earn them European football for 2016-17.

"At the start of the season, I thought West Ham would finish mid-table and Leicester in the bottom six," Cottee told ESPN FC. "So, I'm more surprised about Leicester's performance, which has been incredible and so good for English football."

Cottee's 1996 move to Southeast Asia was sandwiched in between a second spell at Upton Park and his late-career renaissance at Leicester, under Martin O'Neill, where he would partner a young Emile Heskey up-front to win the first major silverware of his career as the Foxes lifted the 2000 League Cup.

He joined Selangor after an injury in the pre-season saw him fall to fifth choice striker at West Ham, at the start of the 1996-97 campaign, in the midst of Harry Redknapp's ambitious recruitment of international players. So, for a record fee of £750,000, he ventured into the unknown at the Shah Alam Stadium.

Having won the previous two Malaysia Cups, Selangor were one of the strongest and best resourced clubs in Southeast Asia. But it still proved to be a difficult transition for the then 31-year-old, who'd earned seven caps for England and also been a top striker for Everton.

He'd later speak about the culture shock of having his hotel roommate wake up for early morning prayers on away trips and having to clean his own boots after a youngster called Rio Ferdinand looked after him at Upton Park. And there was also his oft-quoted comment of finding mushrooms growing on the pitch when he played a league game.

"To be honest, I didn't really enjoy the football side of things too much and I struggled to play in the hot weather," he said.

"But, from a cultural point of view I had a great time, meeting lots of nice people and going to parts of the world I would never have otherwise seen. It is a part of my personal football history and I'm pleased that I went there."

In the end, Cottee's performance on the pitch received a pass mark, with 17 goals in 31 matches in all competitions. He was also part of the side, alongside Selangor coaches past and present in Australian Mehmet Durakovic and Zainal Abidin Hassan, that won the 1997 Malaysia FA Cup, with a 1-0 victory over Pahang in the final.

When Cottee returned to England in 1997, Malaysia were a respectable 87th in the FIFA rankings. But on the latest list released earlier this month, they'd fallen to an all-time low of 174. In the past 12 months, they've suffered 10-0 loss to United Arab Emirates, three 6-0 defeats and were held to a 0-0 home draw in a friendly by Asian minnows, Macau.

"I don't get to see Malaysian football now but, if the team has gone backwards, then a complete review of all aspects of football in the country needs to be undertaken to restore pride in the national team," said Cottee, who's made several trips to Kuala Lumpur in recent years to work as a TV pundit. "With the size of the country, Malaysia should surely be in the top 100."

Last Sunday, Cottee was a spectator at King Power Stadium as his two former clubs played out a thrilling 2-2 draw in the Premier League. The enterprising campaign of sixth-placed West Ham has been compared to the so-called 'Boys of 86' when a Cottee-Frank McAvennie inspired side finished third in the English top flight under John Lyall.

"It's always difficult to compare teams from different eras, but If you asked me to pick the best players from both the current and 1985-86 team, I would put only [Dimitri] Payet, [Mark] Noble and [Aaron] Cresswell in," Cottee said.

"From Leicester, only [Christian] Fuchs, [Riyad] Mahrez, [N'Golo] Kante and [Jamie] Vardy would make the Martin O'Neill side of the 1990s, but of course the current Leicester team achieved more than we did."

Cottee played for Leicester in consecutive League Cup finals, losing 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur in 1999 before being part of a 2-1 victory over Tranmere Rovers in 2000.

Although his 145 goals for West Ham make him a club legend, he retains a soft spot for the Foxes, who handed him a lifeline when he was a forgotten 30-something veteran, struggling for fitness after coming home from Southeast Asia.

"I didn't expect to return to the Premier League when I left Selangor, but at Leicester I won my only domestic trophy, scored my 200th league goal, scored at Leeds, Liverpool and Man United, and I also played in my only European match," he said.

"It was a fantastic time to be at the club and I really hope they can hold on to win the title this season."

* Former Herald journalist Jason Dasey is Singapore-based Senior Editor of global football website: www.espnfc.com