🔗 Share this article

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

With four wins in five games, and a Samba striker netting the goals, suddenly supporters find themselves drifting off with thoughts of trips to Milan, Munich and Barcelona next season.

A emphatic 3-0 win over Sunderland moved their manager's side into fifth in the Premier League – a position that was sufficient to secure Champions League football last season.

Only leaders Arsenal have collected more points over the past six games.

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

No one was forecasting this last summer.

The former head coach had left for Tottenham after a seven-year stint in charge, a period in which he had not only guided the club to the Premier League but also cemented 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 total of 39 goals in the previous campaign – were also sold, joining Manchester United and Newcastle United respectively.

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

A year of difficulty, possibly even relegation, was widely predicted. Yet here we are in January with the club in the upper echelons.

So, how did they pull it off?

Igor Thiago's Record-breaking Season

The club's decision not to bring in another striker was partly down to timing, with Wissa's move not going through until the final day of the window.

But they also were aware they had a £30 million striker already waiting to go.

Igor Thiago joined from Club Brugge in July 2024 for a then-record fee, but was hindered by injury in his first campaign, going goalless in eight appearances.

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

Given the fellow Brazilians who have preceded him, that is some accomplishment, especially with seventeen matches left to play.

"He's been a revelation," former Liverpool midfielder an analyst said. "He's a physical specimen, fast, strong, but more skilled than people think. Good with his feet, either foot, he can score with both. You can see he's brimming with confidence. These numbers are incredible. He must be so pleased. That's a huge 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 underscores the standard he is operating at.

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

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 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 their opponents, 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. Do that often enough and the goals will – and have – come.

Considering the hardships he had in his youth, where he worked as a bricklayer to support 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 credit for the kind of players they bring in and personalities," the manager said. "It is really notable. He is a really unique person who has fitted into life very nicely. He has had to forge this path. He has worked for his journey and toiled. He has got real determination about his personality. He is developing his abilities constantly and we are discovering more and more about him. He is a pretty all-round centre-forward."

Andrews Showing Sceptics Wrong

Their star striker is the man of the moment but the team 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 sum of their parts.

The fear was that once the manager left, that may not be the case, and that the sum of Brentford's parts alone might not be enough to stay up.

As a result, appointing Andrews, with no previous managerial experience, 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 top job.

But given that Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna was the only other alternative that the hierarchy looked at, they were clearly convinced they had the correct candidate.

So far, as often seems to be the case with the key decision makers at the club, it looks as if they were spot on.

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

Wins that, following their excellent recent run, could prove all the more important in the pursuit for Europe.

"We are in good form and playing really well. We are playing with bravery and conviction in everything we do with and without the ball," he added. "We are happy 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 a handful of points, they have little choice, because things could quickly look very otherwise.

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