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Over halfway through the season, The Bees are in a dream scenario.

With victories in their last five outings, and a Brazilian striker banging in 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 Keith Andrews' side into fifth in the top flight – a position that was sufficient to secure European football last term.

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

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

Few was predicting 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 established them in the top flight.

Club captain Christian Norgaard left for Arsenal and goal-scoring duo Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa – who scored a total of thirty-nine goals in the previous campaign – were also sold, joining United and Newcastle United respectively.

Set-piece coach Andrews was promoted to succeed the Dane, while there was a notable absence of a centre-forward among the summer signings.

A year of struggle, possibly even relegation, was forecast. Yet here we are in January with Brentford in the upper echelons.

So, how did they pull it off?

Igor Thiago's Historic Campaign

Brentford's decision not to bring in another striker was in part down to circumstance, with one forward's move not going through until the final day of the window.

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

Igor Thiago joined from Belgium in the summer for a then-record fee, but was plagued by injury in his debut campaign, going without a goal in his initial outings.

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

Given the fellow Brazilians who have preceded him, that is a remarkable feat, especially with 17 games remaining.

"He has been a revelation," former Liverpool midfielder an analyst said. "He is physically intimidating, fast, strong, but more skilled than people think. Good with his feet, either foot, he can score off both. You can see he's full of confidence. His statistics are incredible. 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 the continent's major leagues to this point shows the level he is playing at.

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

His first goal against the Black Cats was his seventh first goal of a game of the season. Considering how often we are told the importance of the first goal 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 thirty efforts this season has a better shooting accuracy than the striker's 59.1 percent.

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

Considering the struggles he had in his youth, where he worked as a bricklayer to provide for his family following the death of his father, perhaps it should be no surprise that high-stakes situations on the pitch is something he takes in his stride.

"Our scouts deserve a lot of credit for the type of players they bring in and characters," Andrews said. "This 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 toiled. He has got serious grit about his personality. He is improving his skill set constantly and we are learning more and more about him. He is a largely all-round centre-forward."

The Manager Proving Sceptics Wrong

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

While they had star players – a host of talent – under their previous boss, they were always seen as a team stronger than the individual components.

The fear 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 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 outside the club as a gamble.

A maiden role is a test for anyone, especially when it comes in the Premier 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 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 Brentford, it looks as if they were spot on.

The new boss won just one of his first 5 league games in charge but big home victories against Manchester United, Liverpool and Newcastle have followed.

Wins that, following their excellent recent run, could prove increasingly important in the pursuit for European qualification.

"We are in fine fettle and playing really good. 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 the European spots and the lower mid-table are currently separated by just eight points, they have little choice, because things could quickly look very different.

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