I found that Noel is actually a big fan of Peter Green. He participated in a documentary about him so I might just be catching up on what is already generally known here - if so sorry :S At first I thought his comments might be ignorance but of course there are people who try to put Green and Buckingham in competition with each other.
There is no way that Noel can compare with either Green or Buckingham on guitar. He would fess that himself.
However from
http://www.nme.com/news/noel-gallagher/58404 'The ex-Oasis leader said 'Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds' was inspired by Jefferson Airplane track 'High Flying Bird'. Meanwhile, the format of the title is a homage to the original name for Fleetwood Mac, Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac.'
A list of his top ten groups. No females on the list! I take it he prefers the pre Buckingham-Nicks Fleetwood Mac.
1: The Beatles
2: The Rolling Stones
3: The Who
4: Sex Pistols
5: The Kinks
6: The La's
7: Pink Floyd
8: The Bee Gees
9: The Specials
10: (Peter Green's) Fleetwood Mac
The Bee Gees would be on there for their pre disco work. Incidentally, Lindsey used a rhythm from a Bee Gees song on the Rumors LP.
Lindsey certainly deserves more recognition as a guitar player. In the 1980s FM seemed to have an easy listening, radio friendly music reputation that was firmly in pop. It wasn't until I saw the 'Rosebud' documentary that I started realizing there was more to them. And then, the grunge artists started paying homage to the band.
Lindsey has the skill to be virtuoso but at the same time, he keeps the feel raw and direct. That's a deadly combo. On a youtube video he describes his style as 'refined primitive'.
However, there will always be people who prefer the Peter Green era and feel it was more 'authentic' blues music - many blues listeners tend to be 'purists'. They have the right to that if that is their interest and Peter Green fully deserves the respect. Lindsey had to try and take over from someone who was already a blues legend and maybe it was harder for some to take him seriously because of that. But he is certainly great in his own right. (I like to think that I can appreciate the best of both players.)
Fleetwood Mac are such an eclectic mix of individuals. At the outset they probably don't seem compatible but obviously it works for them in some crazy fashion.