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Over the midpoint of the campaign, The Bees find themselves in dreamland.

Following victories in five games, and a Samba striker banging in the goals, suddenly supporters find themselves drifting off with 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 Premier League – a position that was sufficient to secure Champions League football last term.

Only table-toppers Arsenal have gathered more points over the past six games.

There is a long way to go yet but the West London outfit are squarely in the race for European 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 promoted but also established them in the elite division.

Club captain Christian Norgaard left for the North London club and attacking duo Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa – who scored a total of thirty-nine goals in 2024-25 – were out the door, joining Manchester United and Newcastle respectively.

Specialist coach Keith Andrews was promoted to succeed Frank, while there was no striker among the summer signings.

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

So, how did they pull it off?

Igor Thiago's Record-breaking Season

Brentford's decision not to sign another striker was in part down to timing, with Wissa's move not going through until deadline day.

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

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

Thiago has gone about compensating for lost time this season, though, with his brace against Sunderland taking him to 16 league goals – the highest tally by a Brazilian in a single Premier League campaign.

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

"He's been a breath of fresh air," pundit Danny Murphy said. "He is 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. These numbers are incredible. He must be so proud. 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 shows the standard he is operating at.

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

His opener against the opposition 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 rely on to take that early opportunity cannot be overstated.

Prior to the game against Sunderland, 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 often enough and the goals will – and have – come.

Considering the hardships 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 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 adapted to life very well. He has had to forge this path. He has worked for his journey and grafted. He has got real determination about his personality. He is improving 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 man of the moment but Brentford are not and have never been a one-man band.

While they had key individuals – 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 avoid relegation.

As a result, appointing their set-piece coach, with a blank managerial CV, and just a year at the club was seen by those outside the club 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 manager's office.

But given that Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna was the only other option that Brentford looked at, they were clearly convinced 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.

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 followed.

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

"We are in good form and playing really good. We are playing with bravery 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 pushing."

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 different.

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