Popular, the man frequently with me catches one at the last minute (2,3,4,2,4)
I believe the answer is:
in the nick of time
'popular the man frequently with me' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.
'catches one at the last minute' is the wordplay.
'catches' is an insertion indicator.
'one' becomes 'the' (both can introduce a definite example of something).
'at' becomes 'in' (synonymous in some cases - eg at school, in school).
'the last minute' becomes 'nickoftime' (I've seen this in another clue).
'in'+'nickoftime'='innickoftime'
'the' put within 'innickoftime' is 'IN THE NICK OF TIME'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for in the nick of time that I've seen before include "at the eleventh hour" , "almost, but not quite, too late" , "at the critical moment" , "at last possible moment" , "not a moment too soon" .)