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Over halfway through the campaign, Brentford find themselves in dreamland.

With victories in their last five outings, and a Brazilian striker netting the goals, suddenly supporters are dreaming of thoughts of trips to Milan, Munich and Barcelona next season.

A convincing three-nil win over Sunderland moved their manager's side into fifth in the top flight – a position that was good enough to secure European football last term.

Only leaders Arsenal have gathered more points over the past six games.

There is a significant distance to go yet but the West London outfit are squarely in the fight for continental football.

No one was forecasting this last off-season.

The former head coach had departed for Spurs after seven years in charge, a period in which he had not only got the club to the Premier League but also cemented them in the top flight.

Skipper their Danish midfielder left for the North London club and goal-scoring duo Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa – who scored a total of 39 goals in the previous campaign – were also sold, joining United and Newcastle respectively.

Specialist coach Keith Andrews was promoted to replace Frank, while there was a notable absence of a centre-forward among the summer signings.

A season of difficulty, possibly even relegation, was widely predicted. But here we are in January with the club in the upper echelons.

So, how did they pull it off?

Igor Thiago's Historic Season

Brentford's decision not to sign another striker was in part down to circumstance, with one forward's move not being finalized until deadline day.

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

The 24-year-old joined from Belgium in July 2024 for a then club record fee, but was plagued by injury in his debut campaign, going without a goal in eight appearances.

The 24-year-old has set about compensating for lost time this season, though, with his double against Sunderland taking him to 16 league goals – the highest tally by a player from Brazil in a single English top-flight campaign.

Given the fellow Brazilians who have come before him, that is some accomplishment, especially with seventeen matches left to play.

"He has been a revelation," pundit an analyst said. "He's physically intimidating, fast, strong, but technically better than people think. Excellent with his feet, both feet, he can score off both. You can see he's brimming with confidence. These numbers 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 Europe's top five leagues to this point highlights the standard he is playing at.

And it is not just the quantity but the timing of the goals that have been so vital for Brentford.

His opener against the Black Cats was his 7th opener 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 first big chance cannot be underestimated.

Prior to the game against Sunderland, no player to have attempted at least 30 shots this season has a better shot accuracy rate than Igor Thiago's 59.1 percent.

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 passing of his father, perhaps it should be unsurprising that high-stakes situations on the pitch is something he handles with ease.

"Our scouts deserve a lot of credit for the type of players they bring in and personalities," the manager said. "It is really impressive. He is a really unique person who has fitted into life very well. He has had to forge this path. He has worked for his journey and toiled. He has got serious grit about his personality. He is developing his skill set constantly and we are discovering more and more about him. He is a largely complete centre-forward."

The Manager Proving Sceptics Wrong

Their star striker is the headline act but Brentford are not and have never been a single-player team.

While they had star players – Ivan Toney, Christian Eriksen, Mbeumo and Wissa – under Frank, they were always seen as a team more effective than the individual components.

The concern 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 avoid relegation.

As a result, appointing their set-piece coach, with no previous managerial experience, and just a twelve months at the club was seen by those outside the club as a huge risk.

A maiden role is a challenge for anyone, especially when it comes in the world's toughest league and having made the jump from set-piece coach to the manager's office.

But given that Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna was the only other alternative that the hierarchy 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 vindicated.

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

Wins that, following their brilliant recent form, could prove all the more important in the pursuit for European qualification.

"We are in good form and playing really well. We are playing with courage and conviction in everything we do with or without the ball," Andrews added. "We're happy with how we are going but we want to keep improving."

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 quickly look very otherwise.

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