Now I agree to an extent... he never gave a 'solid' date so no, he should not be taking the heat that he is over that. But the reason he is, is because he is not being transparent at all.
Game companies come out with patch notes all the time before they release the patches so I feel that is a moot point. Now its EA's policy not to and they have every right not too.
But when a company is preaching "greatness" and all that... its going to come with some 'expectations' and when those are not met, you are going to see backlash.