As my quarter of a century at SunSport comes to an end I’m left with one question – what is the point of Tottenham?

FOR the past quarter of a century I have found myself spending far too much time pondering one great philosophical question.

Namely: “What is the point of Tottenham Hotspur?” What does it mean? What is it actually for? And why do so many people care?

‘What is the point of Tottenham?’ remains the age-old questionCredit: Getty

Thomas Frank’s struggles are nothing new for SpursCredit: EPA Why do we talk so much and think so much about a football club which hasn’t won the league since President John F Kennedy first announced to the US Congress his intention to put a man on the moon by the end of the 1960s?

It took eight years for that outlandish dream to become a reality.

Neil Armstrong was on Apollo 11. Chris Armstrong wasn’t.

While I neither support Spurs, nor wish them any harm, trying to solve the Tottenham conundrum has been an occupational hazard for almost my entire adult life.

It all began for me when covering the story of George Graham — Mr Arsenal — being sacked by Spurs and replaced by Glenn Hoddle — the King of White Hart Lane — after the arrival of chairman Daniel Levy in 2001.

A man infamous for negativity and caution made way to the living embodiment of “the glory game” and the whole thing swiftly turned into an unmitigated disaster.

On Sunday, I covered the last of more than 1,000 Premier League matches for The Sun by watching Thomas Frank impersonate Tony Pulis in an abject display of miserable negativity.

It resulted in a 4-1 gubbing by bitter rivals and super-soaraway league leaders Arsenal.

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Frank, of course, had replaced the trophy-winning “To Dare Is To Do” merchant Ange Postecoglou.

And here we always seem to find Tottenham Hotspur — veering wildly between prioritising a desire to win and a need to entertain — while frequently managing neither.

This is a club too big to not have to worry about winning things but a club not good enough to consistently actually win things.

This is a member of the “Big Six” but with significantly the smallest budget of the “Big Six”.

This is a club with mantras and mythology, with ideals to live up to and an image to keep.

A club whose supporters are often accused of grandiose delusions but who were willing to celebrate a home defeat by Manchester City two seasons ago because it prevented Arsenal winning the league.

Here is a riddle, wrapped up in a mystery, inside an enigma — as Winston Churchill once said of Russia, without ever having set eyes on Roman Pavlyuchenko.

We all know why Frank took the Spurs job — he had enjoyed a fantastic spell at Brentford yet reached the glass ceiling at a club which always sells its best players.

But how do you go about replacing Big Ange, who had preached the old-testament Tottenham gospel word for word, won the club’s first silverware in 17 years and yet presided over its worst-ever Premier League campaign?

Where do you even start after inheriting such a deeply weird legacy? The Dane is a very bright and likeable man, who has enjoyed success playing some pretty direct football but is not tactically dogmatic.

He has been in London for long enough to understand the size of Spurs, whose newish stadium is a world-class masterpiece.

Yet how much time did Frank spend wondering what the point of his new club is?

Glenn Hoddle went in as manager, replacing George Graham in 2001Credit: Getty

Tottenham went 17 years without winning a trophyCredit: News Group Newspapers Ltd

Harry Kane and Co came third in a two-horse race in 2016Credit: Getty Images – Getty Because that, in a nutshell, is what it always comes down to.

It is OK for Brentford to go to Arsenal and play with five at the back and two holding midfielders and for it not to work.

But if Spurs are to lose, they must lose with a sense of theatre.

That 5-3 defeat by Manchester United at the old Lane under Hoddle, Gareth Bale scoring a hat-trick in a 4-3 loss against Inter at the San Siro — or almost any match under the management of Ossie Ardiles kind of thing.

Instead, Frank’s reign is currently mirroring that of the unloved Nuno Espirito Santo — starting off brightly, including an early win over Manchester City, then slumping dismally into depressing defeats by Chelsea and Arsenal, along with the booing of substitutions.

Although Frank has already outlasted Nuno and the club’s new, post-Levy board will surely not pull the trigger too soon.

Where Frank goes from here, though, is a philosophical as much as a tactical question.

Spurs hold a unique place in the national consciousness because so many of the most gifted individual footballers ever to play on these shores have starred for them.

Just consider Hoddle, Chris Waddle, Paul Gascoigne, Gareth Bale, Luka Modric, David Ginola, Dimitar Berbatov, Teddy Sheringham, Harry Kane, Gary Lineker, Jurgen Klinsmann.

I shall miss watching Tottenham Hotspur, just as I will appreciate the relief of not having to think about them

Dave Kidd

Which, I think, might have been one of Ardiles’ teamsheets.

And that’s without even going back to the true glory years of the 1960s and a team of legends I felt as if I knew, without ever having met, thanks to my years spent as ghostwriter to the great Jimmy Greaves.

There have been fleeting moments during my time spent covering Spurs when they seemed to have got things right.

Like when they broke into the Champions League under Harry Redknapp — who once led them to a 3-2 comeback victory at the Emirates a couple of seasons after an extraordinary 4-4 draw there.

And, most notably, during the tenure of Mauricio Pochettino, whose team managed to be aggressive, united, hard-working and sensible, yet extremely entertaining. But never won anything.

Poch’s Spurs lost two cup finals and they finished third in a two-horse race when the path was clear for the title during Leicester’s miracle season of 2015-16.

During Pochettino’s march to the 2019 Champions League final came two of the most ridiculous matches I ever covered.

They were the second legs of the quarter-final against Manchester City — a 4-3 defeat to secure an away-goals win — and the semi-final with its comeback lunacy against Ajax in Amsterdam.

But Spurs barely turned up for the final against Liverpool in Madrid, Pochettino’s peak having already been and gone.

At their most thrilling, Spurs gave me some of the finest occasions I’ve ever written about.

Yet as somebody who tries not to take the game too seriously, Spurs also provided some of the most glorious laugh-out-loud slapstick.

As I take my leave of them, at least for the time being, I thank them for both.

For I shall miss watching Tottenham Hotspur, just as I will appreciate the relief of not having to think about them.

The comeback victory over Ajax was truly bonkersCredit: Getty

Tottenham finished 17th last season – but also won the Europa LeagueCredit: AFP