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Over the midpoint of the campaign, The Bees are in fantasy land.

With victories in their last five outings, and a Brazilian striker scoring the goals, suddenly Bees fans are dreaming of 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 fifth in the top flight – a position that was sufficient to secure European football last season.

Solely leaders the Gunners have gathered more points over the past half-dozen matches.

There's a significant distance to go yet but the West London outfit are squarely in the race for European football.

No one was predicting this last off-season.

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

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

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

A season of difficulty, possibly even the drop, was widely predicted. Yet here we are in January with Brentford in the top five.

So, how did they pull it off?

Igor Thiago's Historic Campaign

Brentford's decision not to sign another striker was partly down to timing, with one forward's move not going through until deadline day.

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

The 24-year-old joined from Belgium in July 2024 for a then-record fee, but was plagued by injury in his first campaign, going goalless in his initial outings.

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

Given the countrymen who have come before him, that is a remarkable feat, especially with seventeen matches left to play.

"He has been a breath of fresh air," former Liverpool midfielder an analyst said. "He's physically intimidating, fast, powerful, but technically better than people think. Good with his feet, both feet, he can score with both. You can see he's full of confidence. These numbers are fantastic. He must be so proud. That's a big 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 underscores the standard he is playing at.

And it is not just the volume but the timing of the goals that have been so pivotal for his team.

His first goal against the Black Cats 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 rely on to take that early opportunity cannot be underestimated.

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

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

Given the struggles he had earlier in life, where he labored in construction to support his family following the passing 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 type of players they bring in and characters," Andrews said. "This is really notable. He is a really special person who has fitted into life very nicely. He has had to forge this path. He has earned his journey and grafted. He has got serious grit about his personality. He is developing his abilities constantly and we are learning more and more about him. He is a pretty all-round centre-forward."

Andrews Proving Doubters Incorrect

Their star striker is the headline act but Brentford are not and have never been a one-man band.

While they had key individuals – Ivan Toney, Christian Eriksen, Mbeumo and Wissa – under their previous boss, they were always seen as a team more effective than the sum of their parts.

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

Consequently, 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 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 boss Kieran McKenna was the only other alternative that the hierarchy looked at, they were clearly confident they had the right man.

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

The new boss won just one of his first five league games in charge but significant home victories against Manchester United, Liverpool and the Magpies have since occurred.

Results that, following their excellent recent run, could prove increasingly important in the race for Europe.

"We're in fine fettle and playing really well. We are playing with courage and belief in everything we do with or without the ball," Andrews added. "We are happy 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 little choice, because things could rapidly look very otherwise.

But, for now, Brentford are defying the odds. And the longer that continues, the closer to reality those dreams of Europe will become.