Thierry has a makeover

Once a Dennis Bergkamp shirt was enough, but among Arsenal's more discerning supporters these days there is a new status symbol that's not for sale in the club superstore.

If you want a Sash above the mantelpiece in your drawing room you'll have to take yourself off to the East West Art Gallery in trendy Holland Park.

Here doctor-painter Leonard Sash, Arsenal consultant for 30 years, is exhibiting his latest works. One of the first pieces he sold is entitled "TH in the Shower".

To you and me, that's Thierry Henry, cooling down after a match. Other works in the exhibition that runs until Saturday depict Bergkamp heading the ball and Robert Pires running with the ball at his feet.

Many of his paintings embrace the world of sport. "I have always found figures in motion a fascinating subject," he explained. "I like to portray that extreme moment in sport, that one second when, for instance, the footballer kicks the ball."

South African-born Sash - his sister Cecily is also a well-known artist - was invited to join Arsenal by Bertie Mee shortly after the Double-winning season of 1970-71.

"Bertie and Fred Street were physiotherapists and worked with me at the Camden Rehabilitation Centre helping injured servicemen," he recalled.

"Bertie went to Highbury first as the club physio and when he became manager he invited Fred and I to join him." Happy to talk all day about art, Sash won't be drawn on the inner secrets of the Arsenal dressing room. He'll gladly discuss Van Gogh's ear, but the Ljungberg hip or the Pires knee are forbidden subjects.

He has, as you would expect, a remarkable insight into sports injuries and has treated all the great Arsenal names of the last quarter of a century. If you see a bearded figure on TV fussing over an injured Arsenal player on the touchline, that's him.

"Overuse-related injuries are far more common than a few years ago," he said. "Things like inflammation of the tendon sheath and stress fractures can be traced to overuse.

"The players train harder these days and, of course, matches are more intense. But some things, like sprains and muscle tears, can be prevented with stretching and proper warm-up exercises."

His knowledge of the human form inevitably helps when he's painting and he is, he insists, a painter rather than artist.

"I know the difference," he said. "I wouldn't presume to describe myself as an artist."