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Over the midpoint of the campaign, The Bees are in a dream scenario.

With victories in five games, and a Samba striker scoring the goals, suddenly Bees fans are envisioning thoughts of trips to Milan, Munich and Barcelona next season.

A emphatic three-nil win over the Black Cats moved Keith Andrews' side into the fifth spot in the Premier League – a place that was good enough to secure European football last season.

Solely table-toppers Arsenal have accumulated more points over the past six games.

There's a significant distance to go yet but Brentford are squarely in the battle for continental football.

Few was envisioning this last summer.

The former head coach had departed for Tottenham after a seven-year stint in charge, a period in which he had not only got the club to the Premier League but also established them in the elite division.

Skipper their Danish midfielder left for the North London club and attacking duo Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa – who scored a combined of thirty-nine goals in the previous campaign – were out the door, joining Manchester United and Newcastle respectively.

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

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

So, how did they pull it off?

Igor Thiago's Historic Season

Brentford's decision not to sign another striker was partly down to timing, with Wissa's move not being finalized until deadline day.

But they also knew they had a £30m striker already chomping at the bit.

The 24-year-old joined from Club Brugge in the summer for a then club record fee, but was hindered by injury in his first campaign, going goalless in eight appearances.

The 24-year-old has gone 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.

Considering the fellow Brazilians who have come before him, that is some accomplishment, especially with 17 games remaining.

"He has been a breath of fresh air," former Liverpool midfielder an analyst said. "He's physically intimidating, quick, strong, but technically better than people think. Excellent with his feet, either foot, he can score off both. You can see he's brimming with confidence. These numbers are fantastic. He must be so pleased. That's a huge compliment to him."

That only a trio of global superstars have scored more in any of Europe's top five leagues to this point shows the level he is playing at.

And it is not just the volume but the timing 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. Given how often we are told the importance of the initial strike in a game, having someone you can rely on to take that first big chance 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%.

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

Given the hardships he had earlier in life, where he labored in construction to support his family following the death of his father, perhaps it should be no surprise that pressure on the pitch is something he takes in his stride.

"Our scouts deserve a lot of credit for the kind of players they bring in and personalities," the manager said. "It is really impressive. He is a really special 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 improving his abilities constantly and we are learning more and more about him. He is a pretty all-round centre-forward."

The Manager Proving Doubters Wrong

Their star striker is the man of the moment but the team are not and have never been a single-player team.

While they had key individuals – Ivan Toney, Christian Eriksen, Mbeumo and Wissa – under Frank, 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 Brentford's parts alone might not be enough to stay up.

Consequently, appointing Andrews, with no previous managerial experience, and just a year at the club was seen by those external observers as a huge risk.

A first managerial job is a test for anyone, especially when it comes in the Premier League and having made the jump from specialist coach to the manager's office.

But given that Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna was the only other option 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 correct.

Andrews won just one of his first 5 league games in charge but significant home victories against Manchester United, the Reds and Newcastle have followed.

Results that, following their brilliant recent run, could prove all the more important in the race for Europe.

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

In a league where the European spots and the lower mid-table are currently separated by just eight points, they have no other option, because things could rapidly look very different.

But, for now, The Bees are beating the odds. And the longer that lasts, the closer to fruition those dreams of the continent will become.