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Over halfway through the season, Brentford find themselves in a dream scenario.

With four wins in five games, and a Brazilian striker banging in the goals, suddenly Bees fans are envisioning thoughts of trips to European capitals next season.

A comprehensive three-nil win over Sunderland 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 accumulated more points over the past half-dozen matches.

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

No one was forecasting this last summer.

The former head coach had left for Tottenham after seven years in charge, a period in which he had not only guided the club to the Premier League but also established them in the elite division.

Club captain their Danish midfielder left for the North London club and attacking duo Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa – who scored a combined of 39 goals in the previous campaign – were also sold, joining Manchester United and Newcastle respectively.

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

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

So, how have they managed it?

Igor Thiago's Historic Season

The club's decision not to bring in another striker was partly down to timing, with one forward'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 July 2024 for a then club record fee, but was hindered by fitness issues in his debut campaign, going goalless in his initial outings.

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

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

"He has been a revelation," former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy said. "He is physically intimidating, quick, strong, but technically better than people think. Good with his feet, either foot, he can score with both. You can see he's brimming with confidence. His statistics are incredible. 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 level he is playing at.

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

His opener against the opposition was his seventh first goal of a game 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.

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

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

Given the hardships he had in his youth, where he labored in construction to provide for 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 praise for the type of players they bring in and personalities," Andrews said. "It is really impressive. He is a really unique person who has fitted into life very well. He has had to earn this path. He has earned his journey and grafted. He has got serious grit about his personality. He is developing his skill set constantly and we are learning more and more about him. He is a largely all-round centre-forward."

Andrews Showing Doubters Wrong

Igor Thiago is the headline act but Brentford are not and have never been a single-player team.

While they had key individuals – a host of talent – 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 their parts alone might not be enough to stay up.

As a result, appointing their set-piece coach, with no previous managerial experience, and just a year at the club was seen by those external observers as a gamble.

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 set-piece 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 confident they had the correct candidate.

So far, as often seems to be the case with the brains trust at Brentford, it looks as if they were spot on.

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

Wins that, following their brilliant recent form, could prove increasingly important in the race for Europe.

"We are in fine fettle and playing really good. We are playing with bravery and belief in everything we do with or without the ball," he added. "We are pleased with how we are going but we want to keep striving."

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

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