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More than the midpoint of the season, The Bees find themselves in fantasy land.

With four wins in five games, and a Samba striker netting the goals, suddenly supporters are envisioning thoughts of trips to Milan, Munich and Barcelona next season.

A comprehensive 3-0 win over the Black Cats moved their manager's side into the fifth spot in the Premier League – a position that was good enough to secure Champions League football last season.

Only leaders Arsenal have collected more points over the past half-dozen matches.

There's a long way to go yet but the West London outfit are firmly in the race for European football.

Few was predicting this last summer.

The former head coach had left for Spurs after a seven-year stint in charge, a period in which he had not only guided the club promoted but also established them in the elite division.

Skipper Christian Norgaard left for the North London club and goal-scoring duo two key forwards – who scored a total of thirty-nine goals in 2024-25 – were out the door, joining Manchester United and Newcastle United respectively.

Specialist coach Keith Andrews was elevated to succeed Frank, while there was a notable absence of a centre-forward among the off-season arrivals.

A year of struggle, possibly even the drop, was forecast. But here we are in the new year with Brentford in the upper echelons.

So, how have they managed it?

Igor Thiago's Historic Campaign

The club's decision not to bring in another striker was partly down to circumstance, with Wissa's move not being finalized until the final day of the window.

But they also knew they had a £30 million striker already waiting to go.

The 24-year-old joined from Belgium in the summer for a then-record fee, but was plagued by injury in his first campaign, going without a goal in his initial outings.

Thiago has set about making up for lost time this season, though, with his brace against Sunderland taking him to sixteen league goals – the most by a Brazilian in a single English top-flight campaign.

Given the fellow Brazilians who have preceded him, that is some accomplishment, especially with 17 games left to play.

"He has been a revelation," pundit an analyst said. "He's physically intimidating, fast, strong, but technically better than people think. Good with his feet, either foot, he can score off both. You can see he's full of confidence. His statistics are fantastic. He must be so proud. That's a huge compliment to him."

That only Erling Haaland, Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe have scored more in any of the continent's major leagues to this point underscores the level he is operating at.

And it is not just the volume but the crucial nature of the goals that have been so vital for Brentford.

His first goal against the Black Cats was his seventh first goal of a game of the season. Given how often we are told the significance of the initial strike in a game, having someone you can depend on to take that early opportunity cannot be underestimated.

Before the game against Sunderland, no player to have attempted at least thirty efforts this season has a better shooting accuracy than the striker's 59.1%.

He hits the target. Achieve that consistently and the goals will – and have – come.

Considering the hardships he had in his youth, where he worked as a bricklayer to support his family following the passing of his father, perhaps it should be no surprise that pressure on the pitch is something he takes in his stride.

"The recruitment team deserve a lot of credit for the type of players they bring in and personalities," Andrews said. "This is really impressive. He is a really special person who has adapted to life very nicely. He has had to earn this path. He has earned his journey and grafted. He has got serious grit about his personality. He is improving his abilities constantly and we are discovering more and more about him. He is a largely all-round centre-forward."

Andrews Proving Doubters Incorrect

Igor Thiago is the man of the moment but the team are not and have never been a single-player team.

While they had star players – a host of talent – under their previous boss, they were always seen as a team more effective than the sum of their parts.

The fear was that once the manager left, that may not be the case, and that the collective quality of their parts alone might not be enough to stay up.

As a result, appointing Andrews, with no previous managerial experience, and just a twelve months at the club was seen by those external observers as a gamble.

A maiden role is a test for anyone, let alone when it comes in the world's toughest league and having made the leap from specialist coach to the top job.

But given that Ipswich Town manager one candidate was the only other alternative that the hierarchy looked at, they were clearly convinced they had the correct candidate.

To date, as often seems to be the case with the key decision makers at Brentford, it looks as if they were correct.

Andrews won just one of his first 5 league games in charge but big home victories against Manchester United, the Reds and the Magpies have since occurred.

Wins that, following their excellent recent form, could prove increasingly important in the race for European qualification.

"We're in fine fettle and playing really good. We are playing with courage and conviction in everything we do with or without the ball," he added. "We are pleased with how we are going but we want to keep improving."

In a league where fourth and 15th are currently separated by just eight points, they have no other option, because things could quickly look very different.

But, for now, Brentford are beating the odds. And the longer that continues, the closer to fruition those aspirations of the continent will become.