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More than halfway through the campaign, The Bees are in dreamland.

With victories in five games, and a Samba striker netting the goals, suddenly Bees fans find themselves drifting off with thoughts of trips to Milan, Munich and Barcelona next season.

A comprehensive 3-0 win over the Black Cats moved Keith Andrews' side into the fifth spot in the Premier League – a position that was sufficient to secure Champions League football last season.

Solely leaders Arsenal have accumulated more points over the past half-dozen matches.

There's a long way to go yet but Brentford are squarely in the race for continental football.

Few was envisioning 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 to the Premier League but also established them in the top flight.

Skipper their Danish midfielder left for Arsenal and attacking duo two key forwards – who scored a combined of 39 goals in 2024-25 – were out the door, joining United and Newcastle respectively.

Specialist coach Keith Andrews was promoted to replace Frank, while there was no striker among the off-season arrivals.

A season of struggle, possibly even the drop, was widely predicted. But here we are in the new year with Brentford in the top five.

So, what is behind their success?

Igor Thiago's Historic Season

The club's decision not to bring in another striker was partly down to timing, with Wissa's move not being finalized until deadline day.

But they also knew they had a £30 million striker already ready and waiting.

Igor Thiago joined from Belgium in July 2024 for a then-record fee, but was plagued by fitness issues in his debut campaign, going goalless in eight appearances.

Thiago has gone about compensating for lost time this season, though, with his brace against the Wearside club taking him to sixteen league goals – the highest tally by a player from Brazil in a single English top-flight campaign.

Given the countrymen who have preceded him, that is a remarkable feat, especially with 17 games left to play.

"He has been a revelation," former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy said. "He's physically intimidating, fast, powerful, but more skilled 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 incredible. He must be so pleased. That's a huge compliment to him."

That only a trio of global superstars have scored more in any of the continent's major leagues to this point highlights 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 his team.

His opener against the opposition was his seventh opener of the season. Considering how often we are told the significance of the initial strike in a game, having someone you can depend on to take that first big chance cannot be underestimated.

Before the game against Sunderland, no player to have attempted at least 30 shots this season has a better shooting accuracy than the striker's 59.1%.

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

Considering the struggles 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 unsurprising that pressure on the pitch is something he handles with ease.

"Our scouts deserve a lot of credit for the kind of players they bring in and characters," Andrews said. "This is really impressive. He is a really unique person who has adapted to life very nicely. He has had to earn this path. He has worked for his journey and grafted. He has got serious grit about his personality. He is improving his abilities constantly and we are learning more and more about him. He is a pretty 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 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 individual components.

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.

Consequently, appointing their set-piece coach, with a blank managerial CV, and just a twelve months 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 leap from set-piece coach to the top job.

But given that Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna was the only other alternative that Brentford looked at, they were clearly confident they had the correct candidate.

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

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

Results that, following their brilliant 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 belief in everything we do with and without the ball," Andrews added. "We are happy with how we are going but we want to keep striving."

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

But, for now, Brentford are beating the predictions. And the longer that continues, the closer to reality those aspirations of Europe will become.