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Over the midpoint of the season, The Bees are in dreamland.

Following four wins in five games, and a Brazilian striker scoring the goals, suddenly supporters are dreaming of thoughts of trips to European capitals next season.

A convincing three-nil 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 term.

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

There's a long way to go yet but the West London outfit are squarely in the battle for continental football.

No one was forecasting this last summer.

The former head coach had departed for Tottenham after a seven-year stint in charge, a period in which he had not only guided the club promoted but also cemented them in the top flight.

Club captain their Danish midfielder left for the North London club and goal-scoring duo Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa – who scored a total of thirty-nine goals in 2024-25 – were out the door, joining United and Newcastle respectively.

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

A season of struggle, possibly even the drop, was widely predicted. Yet here we are in January with the club in the upper echelons.

So, how have they managed it?

The Brazilian's Historic Season

Brentford's decision not to sign another striker was in part down to circumstance, with Wissa's move not going through until deadline day.

But they also were aware they had a £30m striker already chomping at the bit.

Igor Thiago joined from Club Brugge in the summer for a then-record fee, but was hindered by injury in his debut campaign, going goalless in his initial outings.

Thiago has gone about making up for lost time this season, though, with his double against the Wearside club taking him to 16 league goals – the highest tally by a player from Brazil in a single Premier League campaign.

Considering the fellow Brazilians who have preceded him, that is some accomplishment, especially with 17 games remaining.

"He has been a revelation," pundit Danny Murphy said. "He's physically intimidating, quick, strong, but technically better than people think. Good with his feet, either foot, he can score off both. You can see he's brimming with confidence. His statistics are fantastic. He must be so pleased. That's a big 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 shows the standard he is playing at.

And it is not just the volume but the timing 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 importance of the initial strike in a game, having someone you can rely on to take that early opportunity cannot be overstated.

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

He finds the target. Do that consistently and the goals will – and have – come.

Given the hardships he had earlier in life, where he worked as a bricklayer to provide for his family following the death of his father, perhaps it should be no surprise that pressure on the pitch is something he handles with ease.

"The recruitment team deserve a lot of praise for the type of players they bring in and characters," Andrews said. "It is really impressive. He is a really unique person who has fitted into life very nicely. He has had to earn this path. He has earned his journey and grafted. He has got real determination about his personality. He is developing his abilities constantly and we are learning more and more about him. He is a pretty complete centre-forward."

Andrews Proving Doubters Wrong

Their star striker is the man of the moment but the team are not and have never been a one-man band.

While they had star players – Ivan Toney, Christian Eriksen, Mbeumo and Wissa – under Frank, they were always seen as a team stronger than the sum of their parts.

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

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

A first managerial job is a challenge for anyone, especially when it comes in the world's toughest league and having made the jump from specialist coach to the top job.

But given that Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna was the only other option that Brentford looked at, they were clearly confident they had the right man.

To date, as often seems to be the case with the brains trust at Brentford, it looks as if they were vindicated.

Andrews won just a single of his first five league games in charge but significant home victories against Manchester United, Liverpool and Newcastle have followed.

Wins that, following their brilliant recent run, could prove all the more important in the pursuit for Europe.

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

In a league where the European spots and the lower mid-table are currently separated by just a handful of points, they have little choice, because things could rapidly look very different.

But, for now, The Bees are defying the predictions. And the longer that lasts, the closer to fruition those dreams of Europe will become.