FAIRFORD manager Paul Braithwaite credits Dave Turner’s willingness to offer advice as a major reason for him settling quickly into life as a non-league boss.

Braithwaite only took over at Cinder Lane last season and is one of the younger and more inexperienced managers on the circuit, and he remains thankful to the wise words of the former Shrivenham and Wootton Bassett manager during his bedding-in period.

Following the tragic death of Turner at the age of 52 in the early hours of Tuesday morning, Braithwaite emphasised how much his rival gave to the local footballing community.

“Being one of the younger managers around and not having been on the scene as long, I haven’t been involved in that many games with Dave,” he said.

“He always had to work hard as a manager, he’s not been a manager with a big budget and he’s always had to work hard to get players in to build a squad, and he’s always been successful.

“He was always the type of guy that was really passionate about getting results. You’d see he’d do whatever he could to get a result. Off the field he was always polite and very complimentary of things you try to do as a manager.

“As a bloke you couldn’t have a bad word about him.”